THE ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT

DEFINED

REALIZING A NEW TRAIN OF THOUGHT

”The tremendous and still accelerating development of science and technology

has not been accompanied by an equal development in social, economic, and

political patterns...We are now...only beginning to explore the potentialities

which it offers for developments in our culture outside technology, particularly

in the social, political and economic fields. It is safe to predict that...such social

inventions as modern-type Capitalism, Fascism, and Communism will be

regarded as primitive experiments directed toward the adjustment of modern

society to modern technology” - Dr. Ralph Linton

www.thezeitgeistmovement.com

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

Realizing a New Train of Thought

1

st

Edition, January, 2014

Creative Commons

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

The content in this text may be reproduced only for

non-commercial purposes and may not be resold in any form.

Any other interests require direct approval by TZM Global.

Contact: media@thezeitgeistmovement.com

This is a 100% non-profit text.

Any price paid is only for the physical publishing.

Any exploitation of this work for profit will not be tolerated.

Acknowledgments:

The material authored here is the product of many forms of contribution,

specifically the research of The Zeitgeist Movement's expanding lecture team.

An enormous thanks extends to all who have contributed news, sources, tips

and other forms of research.

If you would like to help in translating this text,

please contact TZM's linguistics team:

LinguisticTeam@gmail.com

ISBN-13:

978-1495303197

ISBN-10:

1495303195

i

Contents

Preface ................................................................................................... 1

Part I: Introduction

Essay 1: Overview ................................................................................... 5

Essay 2: The Scientific Worldview ............................................................ 14

Essay 3: Sourcing Solutions .................................................................... 21

Essay 4: Logic vs. Psychology .................................................................. 26

Essay 5: The Case for Human Unity .......................................................... 33

Essay 6: The Final Argument – Human Nature ........................................... 39

Part II: Social Pathology

Essay 7: Defining Public Health ................................................................ 46

Essay 8: History of Economy ................................................................... 61

Essay 9: Market Efficiency vs. Technical Efficiency ...................................... 93

Essay 10: Value System Disorder ........................................................... 114

Essay 11: Structural Classism, The State and War .................................... 136

Part III: A New Train of Thought

Essay 12: Introduction to Sustainable Thought ........................................ 160

Essay 13: Post-Scarcity Trends, Capacity and Efficiency ............................ 166

Essay 14: True Economic Factors ........................................................... 231

Essay 15: The Industrial Government ..................................................... 250

Essay 16: Lifestyle, Freedom and the Humanity Factor .............................. 278

Part IV: The Zeitgeist Movement

Essay 17: Social Destabilization and Transition ........................................ 289

Essay 18: Becoming The Zeitgeist Movement ........................................... 315

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

1

-PREFACE-

The outcome of any serious research can only be to make two

questions grow where only one grew before.

1

-Thorstein Veblen

Origin of the name

“The Zeitgeist Movement” (TZM) is the identifier for the social

movement described in the following essays. The name has no

relevant historical reference to anything culturally specific and is not to

be confused or associated with anything else known before with a

similar title. Rather, the title is based upon the semantic meaning of

the very terms, explicitly.

The term “zeitgeist” is defined as the “general intellectual,

moral and cultural climate of an era.” The term “movement” simply

implies “motion” or change. Therefore, The Zeitgeist Movement is an

organization that urges change in the dominant intellectual, moral and

cultural climate of the time.

Document Structure

The following text has been prepared to be as concise and yet

comprehensive as possible. In form, it is a series of essays, ordered by

subject in a manner that works to support a broader context. While

each essay is designed to be taken on its own merit in evaluation, the

true context resides in how each issue works to support a larger train

of thought with respect to the most efficient organization of human

society.

It will be noticed by those who read through these essays in a

linear fashion that a fair amount of overlap exists with certain ideas or

subjects. This is deliberate as such repetition and emphasis is

considered helpful given how foreign some of the concepts might seem

to those with no prior exposure to such material.

Also, since only so much detail can be afforded to maintain

comprehension given the gravity of each subject and how they

interrelate, great effort has been made to source relevant third party

research throughout each essay via footnotes, allowing the reader to

follow through with further study as the interest arises.

The Organism of Knowledge

As with any form of presented research we are dealing with serially

generated data composites. Observation, its assessment,

documentation and integration with other knowledge, existing or

pending, is the manner by which all distinguishable ideas come to

evolve.

This continuum is important to understand with respect to the

way we think about what we believe and why, for information is

1 The Evolution of the Scientific Point of View, Thorstein Veblen, University of

California Chronicle, 1908

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

2

always separate in its merit from the person or institution

communicating or representing. Information can only be evaluated

correctly through a systematic process of comparison to other

physically verifiable evidence as to its proof or lack thereof.

Likewise, this continuum also implies that there can be no

empirical “origin” of ideas. From an epistemological perspective,

knowledge is mostly culminated, processed and expanded through

communication amongst our species. The individual, with his or her

inherently different life experience and propensities, serves as a

custom-processing filter by which a given idea can be morphed.

Collectively, we individuals comprise what could be called a group

mind, which is the larger order social processor by which the efforts of

individuals ideally coalesce. The traditional method of data transfer

through literature, sharing books from generation to generation, has

been a notable path of this group mind interaction, for example.

2

Isaac Newton perhaps put this reality best with the statement:

“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the

shoulders of giants.”

3

This is brought up here in order to focus the

reader on the critical consideration of data, not a supposed “source”,

as there actually is no such thing in an empirical sense. It is only in

the temporal, traditional patterns of culture, such as with literary

credits in a textbook for future research reference, is such a

recognition technically relevant.

There is no statement more erroneous than the declaration

that “this is my idea”. Such notions are byproducts of a material

culture that has been reinforced in seeking physical rewards, usually

via money, in exchange for the illusion of their “proprietary” creations.

Very often an ego association is culminated as well where an individual

claims prestige about their “credit” for an idea or invention.

Yet, that is not to exclude gratitude and respect for those

figures or institutions that have shown dedication and perseverance

towards the expansion of knowledge itself, nor to diminish the

necessity of importance of those who have achieved a skilled,

specialized “expert” status in a particular field. The contributions of

brilliant thinkers and engineers such as R. Buckminster Fuller, Jacque

Fresco, Jeremy Rifkin, Ray Kurzweil, Robert Sapolsky, Thorstein

Veblen, Richard Wilkinson, James Gilligan, Carl Sagan, Nikola Tesla,

Stephen Hawking and many, many more researchers, past and

present, are quoted and sourced in this text and serve as part of the

larger data composite you are about to read. Great gratitude is also

2 In Carl Sagan's work “Cosmos”, he stated with respect to the destruction of

the Library of Alexandria, noted as the largest and most significant library of

the ancient world: “It was as if the entire civilization had undergone some

self-inflicted brain surgery, and most of its memories, discoveries, ideas and

passions were extinguished irrevocably.“ Cosmos, Carl Sagan, Ballantine

Books, New York, 1980, Chapter XIII, p279

3 The Correspondence of Isaac Newton, Volume 1, edited by HW Turnbull,

1959, p416

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

3

expressed here towards all dedicated minds that are working to

contribute to an improving world.

That understood, “The Zeitgeist Movement” claims no

origination of any idea it promotes and is best categorized as an

activist/educational institution that works to amplify a context upon

which existing/emerging scientific findings may find a concerted social

imperative.

Websites and Resources

The following 10 websites are officially related to The Zeitgeist

Movement's global operations:

-Main Global Hub:

http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com

This is the main website and hub for TZM related actions, events, and

updates.

-Global Chapters Hub:

http://www.tzmchapters.net/

This is the main global hub for chapter information and materials. It

includes maps, a chapter’s tool kit and more.

-Global Blog:

http://blog.thezeitgeistmovement.com/

This is the official blog which allows submissions of editorial style

essays.

-Global Forum:

http://www.thezeitgeistmovementforum.org/

This is the official forum for members to discuss projects and share

ideas from across the world.

-Zeitgeist Media Project:

http://zeitgeistmediaproject.com/

The Media Project website hosts and links to various audio, visual and

literary expressions created by TZM members. Users donate their work

for posting and it is often used as a resource toolkit for flyer graphics,

video presentations, logo animations and the like.

-ZeitNews:

http://www.zeitnews.org/

ZeitNews is a news style service that contains articles relating to

socially relevant advancements in science and Technology.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

4

-Zeitgeist Day (“ZDay”) Global:

http://zdayglobal.org/

This site becomes active annually to facilitate our “Zday” global event,

which occurs in March of each year.

-Zeitgeist Media Festival:

http://zeitgeistmediafestival.org/

This site becomes active annually to facilitate our “Zeitgeist Media

Festival”, which occurs in autumn of each year.

-Global Redesign Institute:

http://www.globalredesigninstitute.org/

The Global Redesign Institute is a virtual graphic interface “think tank”

project which uses map/data models to express direct technical

changes in line with TZM's train of thought in various regions.

General Social Networks

TZM Global on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/#!/tzmglobal

TZM Global on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/tzmglobal

TZM Global Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TZMOfficialChannel

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

5

PART I: INTRODUCTION

-OVERVIEW-

Neither the great political and financial power structures of the world, nor the

specialization-blinded professionals, nor the population in general realize

that...it is now highly feasible to take care of everybody on earth at a “higher

standard of living than any have ever known”. It no longer has to be you or

me. Selfishness is unnecessary and henceforth unrationalizable as mandated by

survival. War is obsolete.

4

-R. Buckminster Fuller

About

Founded in 2008, The Zeitgeist Movement (TZM) is a sustainability

advocacy group that operates through a network of regional chapters,

project teams, public events, media expressions and charity

operations. TZM's activism is explicitly based on non-violent methods

of communication with the core focus on educating the public about

the true root sources of many common personal, social and ecological

problems today, coupled with the vast problem solving and humanity

improving potential science and technology has now enabled, but yet

goes unapplied due to barriers inherent in the current, established

social system.

While the term “activism” is correct by its exact meaning,

TZM's awareness work should not be misconstrued as relating to

culturally common, traditional “activist protest” actions such as we

have seen historically. Rather, TZM expresses itself through targeted,

rational educational projects that work not to impose, dictate or blindly

persuade, but to set in motion a train of thought that is logically self-

realizing when the causal considerations of “sustainability”

5

and “public

health”

6

are referenced from a scientific perspective.

However, TZM's pursuit is still very similar to traditional civil

4 Source: Critical Path, R. Buckminster Fuller, St. Martin's Press, 1981,

Introduction, xxv

5 The term “sustainability”, generally defined “as the ability to be sustained,

supported, upheld, or confirmed”

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sustainability) is often today

commonly referenced/understood within an environmental science context.

TZM's context extends farther, however, including the notion of cultural or

behavioral sustainability, which considers the merit of belief systems in

general, and their less obvious causal consequences.

6 The term “public health”, generally defined as “the science and practice of

protecting and improving the health of a community, as by preventive

medicine, health education, control of communicable diseases, application of

sanitary measures, and monitoring of environmental hazards”

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/public+health?s=t) is used in this

text as a basis of measure for the physical, psychological and hence

sociological well-being of a societies' people over time. This is to be

considered the ultimate barometer of the success or failure of an applied

social system.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

6

rights movements of the past in that the observations reveal the truly

unnecessary oppression inherent in our current social order, which

structurally and sociologically restricts human well-being and potential

for the vast majority of the world's population, not to mention stifles

broad improvement in general due to its established methods.

For instance, the current social model, while perpetuating

enormous levels of corrosive economic inefficiency in general, as will

be described in further essays, also intrinsically supports one economic

group or “class” of people over another, perpetuating technically

unnecessary imbalance and high relative deprivation. This could be

called “economic bigotry” in its effect and it is no less insidious than

discrimination rooted in gender, ethnicity, religion, creed or the like.

However, this inherent bigotry is really only a part of a larger

condition that could be termed “structural violence”,

7

illuminating a

broad spectrum of built in suffering, inhumanity and deprivation that is

simply accepted as normality today by an uninformed majority. This

context of violence stretches much farther and deeper than many tend

to consider. The scope of how our socioeconomic system unnecessarily

diminishes our public health and inhibits our progress today can only

be recognized clearly when we take a more detached technical or

scientific perspective of social affairs, bypassing our traditional, often

blinding familiarities.

The relative nature of our awareness often falls victim to

assumptions of perceived normality where, say, the ongoing

deprivation and poverty of over 3 billion people

8

might be seen as a

“natural”, inalterable social state to those who are not aware of, for

example, the amount of food actually produced in the world, where it

goes, how it is wasted or the technical nature of efficient and abundant

food production possibilities in the modern day.

This unseen violence can be extended to cultural memes

9

as

well where social traditions and their psychology can, without direct

malicious intent, create resulting consequences that are damaging to a

7 The term “structural violence” is commonly ascribed to Johan Galtung,

which he introduced in the article "Violence, Peace, and Peace Research"

(Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1969, pp. 167-191) It refers to a

form of violence where some social structure or social institution harms

people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs. It was expanded

upon by other researchers, such as criminal psychiatrist Dr. James Gilligan,

who makes the following distinction between “behavioral” and “structural”

violence: “The lethal effects of structural violence operate continuously,

rather than sporadically, whereas murders, suicides...wars and other forms

of behavioral violence occur one at a time.” (Violence, James Gilligan, G.P.

Putnam, 1996, p192)

8 Source: Poverty Facts and Stats, Global Issues / 2008 World Bank

Development Indicators (http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-

facts-and-stats)

9 A “meme” is an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to

person within a culture (http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/meme)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

7

human being. For instance, there are religious cultures in the world

that opt out of any form of common medical treatment.

10

While many

might argue the moral or ethical parameters of what it means for a

child in such a culture to die of a common illness that could have been

resolved if modern scientific applications were allowed, we can at least

agree that the death of such a child is really being caused not by the

disease at that point, but by the sociological condition that disallowed

the application of the solution.

As a broader example, a great deal of social study has now

been done on the subject of “social inequality” and its effects on public

health. As will be discussed more so in further essays, there is a vast

array of physical and mental health problems that appear to be born

out of this condition, including propensities towards physical violence,

heart disease, depression, educational deficiency and many, many

other detriments that have a truly social consequence which can affect

us all.

11

The bottom line here is that when we step back and consider

newly realized understandings of causality that are clearly having

negative effects on the human condition, but go unabated

unnecessarily due the pre-existing traditions established by culture, we

inevitably end up in the context of civil rights and hence social

sustainability. This new civil rights movement is about the sharing of

human knowledge and our technical ability to not only solve problems,

but to facilitate a scientifically derived social system that actually

optimizes our potential and well-being. Anything less will create

unnecessary imbalance and social destabilization and constitute what

could be considered a hidden form of oppression.

So, returning to the broad point, TZM works not only to create

awareness of such problems and their true root causes (and hence

logic for resolution), it also works to express the incredible potential

we have, beyond such direct problem solving, to greatly improve the

human condition in general, solving problems which, in fact, have not

yet even been realized.

12

This is initiated by embracing the very nature

of scientific reasoning where the establishment of a near empirical

train of thought takes precedence over everything else in importance.

A train of thought by which societal organization as a whole can find a

more accurate context for sustainability and efficiency on a scale never

before seen, through an active recognition (and application) of the

scientific method.

Focus

10 Reference: Very religious parents causing suffering to sick kids, says report

(http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/religious-parents-causing-suffering-sick-kids-

says-report-115021612.html)

11 Reference: The Spirit Level, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, Penguin,

March 2009

12 More on this issue will be presented in a following essay titled Sourcing

Solutions

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

8

TZM's broad actions could be summarized as to diagnose, educate and

create.

Diagnose:

Diagnosis is “the identification of the nature and cause of anything.” To

properly diagnose the causal condition of the vast social and ecological

problems common to modern culture is not merely to complain about

them or criticize the actions of people or particular institutions, as is

frequent today. A true diagnosis must seek out the lowest causal

denominator possible and work at that level for resolution.

The central problem is that there is often what could be called

a truncated frame of reference, where shortsighted, misdiagnosis of

given consequences persist. For instance, the traditional, established

solution to the reformation of human behavior for many so-called

“criminal acts” is often punitive incarceration. Yet, this says nothing

about the deeper motivation of the “criminal” and why their

psychology led to such acts to begin with.

At that level, such a resolution becomes more complex and

reliant upon the synergetic relationship of their physical and cultural

culmination over time.13 This is no different than when a person dies

of cancer, as it isn't really the cancer that kills them in the literal

sense, as the cancer itself is the product of other forces.

Educate:

As an educational movement that operates under the assumption that

knowledge is the most powerful tool we have to create lasting,

relevant social change in the global community, there is hence nothing

more critical than the quality of one's personal education and their

ability to communicate such ideas effectively and constructively to

others.

TZM is not about following a rigid text of static ideas. Such

confined, narrow associations are typical of religious and political cults,

not the recognition of emergence that underscores the “anti-

establishment”

14

nature of TZM. TZM does not impose in this sense.

Rather, it works to make an open-ended train of thought become

realized by the individual, hopefully empowering their independent

ability to understand its relevance on their own terms, at their own

pace.

Furthermore, education is not only an imperative for those

13 The correlation between human behavior (in this context behavior of a

socially offensive nature as determined by the laws of society) and the

environmental influence of a person's upbringing/life experience is now

without debate. A related term to note is the “bio-psycho-social” nature of

the human organism.

14 The term “anti-establishment” is usually used in a context implying

opposition to an existing, established group. Used here, the context is more

literal in that TZM itself works to not “institutionalize” itself as a rigid entity

but rather be understood as more of a gesture; a symbol of a new manner

of thought or worldview that simply has no boundaries.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

9

unfamiliar with this train of thought and the application set

15

related,

but also for those who already subscribe to it. Just as there is no

“utopia”, there is no final state of understanding.

Create:

While certainly related to the need to adjust human values through

education so the world's people understand the need for such social

changes, TZM also works to consider how a new social system, based

on optimum economic efficiency,

16

would appear and operate in detail,

given our current state of technical ability.

Programs such as the Global Redesign Institute,

17

which is a

digital think tank that works to express how the core societal

infrastructure could unfold based on our current state of technology,

working to combine that technical capacity with the scientific train of

thought so as to calculate the most efficient technical infrastructure

possible for any given region of the world, is one example.

It is worth briefly noting that TZM's advocated “governance”

approach, which has little semblance to the current manner of

governance known today or historically, originates out of a multi-

disciplinary bridging of various proven methods for maximized

optimization, unified through a counter-balancing systems approach

that is designed to be as adaptive as possible to new, emerging

improvements over time.

18

As will be discussed at length, the only possible reference that

could be considered “most complete” at any given time is one that

takes into account the largest interacting observations (system)

tangibly relevant. This is the nature of the cause and effect synergy

that underscores the technical basis for a truly sustainable economy.

Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy

Today, various terms exists to express the general logical basis for a

more scientifically oriented social system in different circles, including

the titles “Resource-Based Economy” or “Natural Law Economy.” While

these titles are historically referential and somewhat arbitrary overall,

the title “Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy” (NLRBE) will be

utilized here since it has the most concrete semantic basis.

19

15 The phrases “train of thought” and “application set” are paired. The former

refers to the scientific reasoning (sustainability and efficiency principles)

which arrive at a given conclusion, while the latter refers to temporal

methods of action, such as technological tools, which invariably change over

time.

16 This will be expanded upon more so in part III.

17 Reference: Official website: http://www.globalredesigninstitute.org

18 See part III for more on the subject of “government”

19 The term “Resource-Based Economy” can be literally interpreted as 'an

economy based on resources'. This has historically drawn confusion in that

one could argue that all “economies”, by definition, are “based” on

“resources”. The term itself also has a strong association to an organization

called The Venus Project which claims to have originated the term & idea,

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

10

A Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy is defined as “an

adaptive socioeconomic system actively derived from direct physical

reference to the governing scientific laws of nature.”

Overall, the observation is that through the use of socially

targeted research and tested understandings in science and

technology, we are now able to logically arrive at societal approaches

which could be profoundly more effective in meeting the needs of the

human population. We are now able to dramatically increase public

health, better preserve the habitat, create a general material

abundance, while also strategically reduce or eliminate many common

social problems present today which are sadly considered inalterable

by many due to their cultural persistence.

Train of Thought

Many figures or groups have worked to create temporally advanced

technological applications, working to apply current possibilities to this

train of thought in order to enable new efficiencies and problem

solving, such as Jacque Fresco's “City Systems”

20

or R. Buckminster

Fuller's Dymaxion House.

21

Yet, as obviously important as this applied engineering is, it is

still critical to remember that all specific technological applications can

only be transient when the evolution of scientific knowledge and its

emerging technological applications are taken into account. In other

words, all current applications of technology tend to become obsolete

over time.

Therefore, what is left can only be a train of thought with

respect to the underlying causal scientific principles. TZM is hence

loyal to this train of thought, not figures, institutions or temporal

technological advancements. Rather than follow a person or design,

TZM follows this self-generating premise of understanding and it hence

operates in a non-centralized, holographic manner, with this train of

thought as the origin of influence for action.

Superstition to Science

A notable pattern worth mentioning is how the evolution of mankind's

understanding of itself and its habitat also continues to expand away

from older ideas and perspectives which are no longer supported due

to the constant introduction of new, schema altering information. A

seeking at one time to trademark the name

(http://tdr.uspto.gov/search.action?sn=77829193). The term “Natural

Law/Resource-Based Economy” is considered more complete here not only

to avoid such possible associative confusion but also because of the more

semantic accuracy of the term itself, since it more clearly references

nature's physical law system and processes rather than just planetary

resources.

20 Reference: The Best That Money Can't Buy, Jacque Fresco, Global

Cybervisions, 2002, Chapter 15

21 Reference: Dymaxion House information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_house

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

11

worthy notion to note here is superstition, which, in many

circumstances, can be viewed as a category of belief that once

appeared to be adequately supported by experience/perception but

can no longer be held as viable due to new, conflicting data.

For example, while traditional religious thought might seem

increasingly implausible to more people today than ever in the West,

due to the rapid growth in information and general literacy,

22

the roots

of religious thought can be traced to periods where humans could

justify the validity and accuracy of such beliefs given the limited

understanding they had of their environment in those early times.

This pattern is apparent in all areas of understanding, including

modern “academia”. Even so-called “scientific” conclusions that, again,

with the advent of new information and updated tests, often cannot be

held as valid anymore,

23

are still commonly defended due to their

mere inclusion in the current cultural tradition.

Such “established institutions”, as they could be called, often

wish to maintain permanence due to reasons of ego, power, market

income or general psychological comfort. This problem is, in many

ways, at the core of our social paralysis.

24

So, it is important to

recognize this pattern of transition and realize how critical being

vulnerable really is when it comes to belief systems, not to mention

coming to terms with the rather dangerous phenomenon of

“established institutions” which are culturally programmed and

reinforced to seek self-preservation rather than evolve and change.

22 The inverse relationship of literacy/knowledge accumulation to superstitious

belief is clear. According to the United Nations’ Arab Human Development

Reports, less than 2% of Arabs have access to the Internet. Arabs represent

5% of the world’s population and yet produce only 1% of the world’s books,

most of them religious. According to researcher Sam Harris: “Spain

translates more books into Spanish each year than the entire Arab world

has translated into Arabic since the ninth century.” It is axiomatic to assume

that the growth of the Islamic Religion in Arab Nations is secured by a

relative lack of outside information in those societies.

23 A Nobel Prize for what is known as “lobotomy” was awarded to Portuguese

neurologist Egas Moniz in 1949. Today, it is considered a barbaric and

ineffective procedure.

(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4794007)

24 The financial support inherently needed in the perpetuation of a given

business, “for profit” or even so-called “not for profit”, sets up a dissonance

between the business's sold product or service and the actual necessity or

viability of that product or service over time. In fact, the obsolescence of

any given product/service, which implies often the obsolescence of the

producing business or corporation, appears inevitable as new technical

advancements emerge. The consequence is a perpetual tendency to stifle

new ideas and inventions that would disturb or override pre-existing

ventures of established institutions, resulting in a loss of income. A cursory

glance at the state of technological possibility today, whilst also considering

the question as to why those improvements have not been immediately

made, illuminates the paralyzing nature of income requiring institutions.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

12

Tradition to Emergence

The perceptual clash between our cultural traditions and our ever

growing database of emergent knowledge is at the core of what

defines the “zeitgeist” as we know it and a long-term review of history

shows a slow grind out of superstitious cultural traditions and

assumptions of reality as they heed to our newly realized benchmark

of emergent, scientific causality. This is what TZM represents in its

broadest philosophical context: A movement of the cultural zeitgeist

itself into new, verifiable and more optimized understandings and

applications.

Hence, while society certainly has witnessed vast and

accelerating changes in different areas of awareness and practice,

such as with our vast material technology today, it appears our social

system is still long behind. Political persuasion, market economics,

labor-for-income, perpetual inequality, nation states, legal

assumptions and many other staples of our current social order

continue to be largely accepted as normality by the current culture,

with little more than their persistence through time as evidence of

their value and empirical permanence.

It is in this context that TZM finds its most broad imperative:

changing the social system. Again, there are many problem solving

technical possibilities for personal and social progress today that

continue to go unnoticed or misunderstood.

25

The ending of war, the

resolution of poverty, the creation of a material abundance unseen in

history to meet human needs, the removal of most crime as we know

it, the empowerment of true personal freedom through the removal of

pointless and/or monotonous labor, and the resolution of many

environmental threats, are but a few of the calculated possibilities we

have when we take our technical reality into account.

However, again, these possibilities are not only largely

unrecognized, they are also literally restricted by the current social

order for the implementation of such problem solving efficiency and

prosperity stands in direct opposition to the very mechanics of how our

current social system is operating at the core level.

26

Therefore, until the socioeconomic tradition and its resulting

social values are challenged and updated to present day

understandings; until the majority of the human population

understands the basic, underlying train of thought technically needed

to support human sustainability and public health, as derived from the

rigor of objective scientific investigation and validation; until much of

the baggage of prior false assumptions, superstition, divisive loyalties

and other socially unsustainable, conflict generating, cultural

hindrances are overcome - all the life improving and problem resolving

possibilities we now have at hand will remain largely dormant.

The real revolution is the revolution of values. Human society

25 Reference: “Zeitnews”, a science and technology website related to TZM, is

recommended (http://www.zeitnews.org/)

26 See part II for supporting details regarding this statement.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

13

appears centuries behind in the way it operates and hence what it

values. If we wish to progress and solve the mounting problems at

hand and, in effect, reverse what is an accelerating decline of our

civilization in many ways, we need to change the way we think about

ourselves and hence the world we inhabit. The Zeitgeist Movement’s

central task is to work to bring this value shift to light, unifying the

human family with the basic perspective that we all share this small

planet and we are all bound by the same natural order laws, as

realized by the method of science.

This common ground understanding extends much farther than

many have understood in the past. The symbiosis of the human

species and the synergistic relationship of our place in the physical

world confirm that we are not separate entities in any respect. The

new societal awakening must show a working social model that is

arrived at from this inherent logic if we expect to survive and prosper

in the long term. We can align or we can suffer. It is up to us.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

14

-THE SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW-

Almost every major systematic error which has deluded men for thousands of

years relied on practical experience. Horoscopes, incantations, oracles, magic,

witchcraft, the cures of witch doctors and of medical practitioners before the

advent of modern medicine, were all firmly established through the centuries in

the eyes of the public by their supposed practical successes. The scientific

method was devised precisely for the purpose of elucidating the nature of

things under more carefully controlled conditions and by more rigorous criteria

than are present in the situations created by practical problems.

27

-Michael Polanyi

Generally speaking, the evolution of human understanding can be seen

as a move from surface observations, processed by our limited five

physical senses, “intuitively” filtered through the educational

framework & value characteristics of that period of time, to the

technique of objective measuring and self-advancing methods of

analysis which work to arrive at (or calculate) conclusions through

testing and retesting proofs, seeking validation through the benchmark

of scientific causality – a causality that appears to comprise the

physical characteristics of what we call “nature” itself.

The “natural laws” of our world exist whether we choose to

recognize them or not. These inherent rules of our universe were

around long before human beings evolved a comprehension to

recognize them and while we can debate as to exactly how accurate

our interpretation of these laws really is at this stage of our intellectual

evolution, there is enough reinforcing evidence to show that we are,

indeed, bound by static forces that have an inherent, measurable,

determining logic.

The vast developments and predictive integrity found in

mathematics, physics, biology and other scientific disciplines proves

that we as a species are slowly understanding the processes of nature

and our growing, inventive capacity to emulate, accentuate or repress

such natural processes confirms our progress in understanding it. The

world around us today, overflowing with material technology and life-

altering inventions, is a testament as to the integrity of the scientific

process and what it is capable of.

Unlike historical traditions, where a certain stasis exists with

what people believe, as is still common in religious type dogma today,

this recognition of “natural law” includes characteristics which deeply

challenge the assumed stability of beliefs which many hold sacred. As

will be expanded upon later in this essay in the context of

“emergence”, the fact is, there simply cannot exist a singular or static

intellectual conclusion with respect to our perception and knowledge

except, paradoxically, with regard to that very underlying pattern of

uncertainty regarding such change and adaptation itself.

This is part of what could be called a scientific worldview. It is

27 Source: Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy, Michael

Polanyi, University of Chicago Press, p.183

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

15

one thing to isolate the techniques of scientific evaluation for select

interests, such as the logic we might use in assessing and testing the

structural integrity of a house design we might build, and another

when the universal integrity of such physically rooted, causal

reasoning and validation methods are applied to all aspects of our

lives. Albert Einstein once said “the further the spiritual evolution of

mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to

genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of

death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge”.

28

While cynics of Science often work to reduce its integrity to yet

another form of “religious faith”, demean its accuracy as “cold” or

“without spirituality” or even highlight consequences of applied

technology for the worst, such as with the creation of the atomic bomb

(which, in actuality, is an indication of a distortion of human values

rather than engineering), there is no ignoring the incredible power this

approach to understanding and harnessing reality has afforded the

human race. No other “ideology” can come close in matching the

predictive and utilitarian benefits this method of reasoning has

provided.

However, that is not to say active cultural denial of this

relevance is not still widespread in the world today. For example, when

it comes to theistic belief, there is often a divisive tendency that

wishes to elevate the human being above such “mere mechanics” of

the physical reality. The implied assumption here is usually that we

humans are “special” for some reason and perhaps there are forces,

such as an intervening “God”, that can override natural laws at will,

making them less important than, say, ongoing obedience to God's

wishes, etc. Sadly, there still exists a great human conceit in the

culture which assumes, with no verifiable evidence, that humans are

separate from all other phenomena and to consider ourselves

connected or even a product of natural, scientific forces is to demean

human life.

Concurrently, there is also a tendency for what some call

“metamagical”

29

thinking which could be considered a schizotypal kind

of personality disorder where fantasy and mild delusion helps reinforce

false assumptions of causality on the world, never harnessing the full

rigor of the scientific method. Science requires testing and replication

of a result for it to be validated and many beliefs of seemingly

“normal” people today exist far outside this requirement.

Apart from traditional religions, the cultural concept of “new

age”

30

is also commonly associated with this type of superstitious

28 Source: As quoted in All the Questions You Ever Wanted to Ask American

Atheists, by Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Amer Atheist Press, 1986

29 Stanford University Behavioral Biology Professor, Dr. Robert Sapolsky is

likely most notable with his use of the term “MetaMagical”. His work is

recommended: http://benatlas.com/2009/12/robert-sapolsky-on-

metamagical-schizotypal-thinking/

30 The term New Age is generally defined as “A broad movement characterized

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

16

thought. While it is extremely important that we as a society are

aware of the uncertainty of our conclusions in general and hence must

keep a creative, vulnerable state of mind to all postulations, the

validation of those postulations can only come through measurable

consistency, not wishful thinking or esoteric fascination.

Such un-validated ideas and assumptions pose a frame of

reference that is often secured by “faith”

31

not reason, and it is difficult

to argue the merit of faith with anyone since the rules of faith

inherently refuse argument itself. This is part of the quandary within

which human society exists today: do we simply believe what we have

been traditionally taught by our culture or do we question and test

those beliefs against the physical reality around us to see if they hold

true?

Science is clearly concerned with the latter and holds nothing

sacred, always ready to correct prior false conclusions when new

information arises. To take such an inherently uncertain, yet still

extremely viable and productive approach to one's day to day view of

the world, requires a very different sensitivity – one that embodies

vulnerability, not certainty.

In the words of Prof. Frank L. H. Wolfs (Department of Physics

and Astronomy, University of Rochester, NY): “It is often said in

science that theories can never be proved, only disproved. There is

always the possibility that a new observation or a new experiment will

conflict with a long-standing theory.”

32

Emergence

So, at the heart of the scientific method is skepticism and

vulnerability. Science is interested in the closest approximation to the

truth it can find and if there is anything science recognizes explicitly, it

is that virtually everything we know will be revised over time as new

information arises.

Likewise, what might seem far-fetched, impossible or even

“superstitious” upon its first culmination might very well prove to be a

useful, viable understanding in the future once validated for integrity.

The implication of this constitutes an emergence of thought, or even

an emergence of “truth”, if you will. A cursory examination of history

shows an ever-changing range of behaviors and practices based upon

ever updating knowledge and this humbling recognition is critical for

human progress.

by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture, with an interest in

spirituality, mysticism...”

31 Carl Sagan was notable for confirming the definition of faith as “belief

without evidence” .

32 Source: Introduction to the Scientific Method, Frank L. H. Wolfs

(http://teacher.nsrl.rochester.edu:8080/phy_labs/AppendixE/AppendixE.ht

ml)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

17

Symbiosis

A second point deeply characteristic of the scientific worldview worth

bringing up in this regard has to do with the symbiotic nature of

things, as we know them. Largely dismissed as common sense today

by many, this understanding holds profound revelations for the way

we think about our world, our beliefs, our conduct and ourselves.

The term “symbiotic” is typically used in the context of

interdependent relationships between biological species.

33

However our

context of the word is broader, relating to the interdependent

relationship of everything. While early, intuitive views of natural

phenomena might have looked upon, say, the manifestation of a “tree”

as an independent entity, seemingly self-contained in its illusion of

separation, the truth of the matter is that a tree's life is entirely

dependent on seemingly “external” input forces for its very

culmination and existence.

34

The water, sunlight, nutrients and other needed interactive

“external” attributes to facilitate the development of a tree is an

example of a symbiotic or synergetic relationship. However, the scope

of this symbiosis has become much more revealing than we have ever

known in the past and it appears the more we learn about the

dynamics of our universe, the more immutable its interdependence.

The best concept to embody this notion is that of a “system”.

35

The term “tree” is really a reference to a perceived system. The “root”,

“trunk”, “branches”, “leaves” and other such attributes of that tree

could be called “sub-systems”. Yet, the “tree” itself is also a sub-

system, it could be said, of, perhaps, a “forest”, which itself is a sub-

system of other larger, encompassing phenomena such as an

“ecosystem”. Such distinctions might seem trivial to many but the fact

is, a great failure in human awareness has been not to fully respect

the scope of the “Earth system” and how each sub-system plays a

relevant role.

The term “categorical systems”

36

could even be used here to

describe all systems, seemingly small or large, because such language

distinctions are ultimately arbitrary. These perceived systems and the

words used to reference them are simply human conveniences for

communication. The fact is, there appears to be only one possible

33 Source: Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/symbiotic)

34 The term “external” in this context is framed as relative to a perceived

object. The broader point here is that there is no such thing as “external” or

“internal” in the context of larger order systems.

35 A “system” is defined as: “a set of things working together as parts of a

mechanism or an interconnecting network.” It is worth noting up front the

importance of this concept as the relevance of the “system” or “systems

theory” will be a returning theme with respect to what frame of reference

actually supports true human sustainability in our habitat.

36 This term is a variation on the more common notion of “categorical

thinking” which is thinking by assigning people or things to categories and

then using the categories as though they represented something in the real

world.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

18

system, as organized by natural law, which can be legitimately

referenced since all the systems we perceive and categorize today can

only be sub-systems. We simply cannot find a truly closed system

anywhere. Even the “Earth system”, which intuitively appears

autonomous, with the Earth floating about the void of space, is entirely

reliant on the sun, the moon and likely many, many other

symbiotic/synergistic factors we have yet to even understand for its

defining characteristics.

In other words, when we consider the interactions that link

these perceived “categorical systems” together, we find a connection

of everything and, on a societal level, this system interaction

understanding is at the foundation of likely the most viable perspective

for true human sustainability.

37

The human being, like a tree or the

Earth, again intuitively appears self-contained. Yet, without, for

example, oxygen to breathe, one will not survive. This means the

human system requires interaction with an atmospheric system and

hence a system of oxygen production and since the process of

photosynthesis accounts for the majority of the atmospheric oxygen

we breathe, it is to our advantage to be aware of what affects this

particular system, and work to harmonize our social practices with it.

When we witness, say, pollution of the oceans or the rapid

deforestation of Earth, we often forget how important such phenomena

really are to the integrity of the human system. In fact, there are so

many examples of environmental disturbances perpetuated by our

species today due to a truncated awareness of this symbiotic cause

and effect that links all known categorical systems, volumes could be

dedicated to the crisis. At any rate, the failure to recognize this

connectedness is a fundamental problem and once this principle of

interacting systems is fully understood, many of our most common

practices today will likely appear grossly ignorant and dangerous in

future hindsight.

Sustainable Beliefs

This brings us to the level of thought and understanding itself. As

noted prior, the very language system we use isolates and organizes

elements of our world for general comprehension. Language itself is a

system based upon categorical distinctions, which we associate to our

perceived reality. However, as needed as such a mode of identification

and organization is to the human mind, it also inherently implies false

division.

Given that foundation, it is easy to speculate as to how we

have grown so accustomed to thinking and acting in inherently divisive

ways and why the history of human society has been a history of

imbalance and conflict.

38

It is on this level that such physical systems

37 This will be expanded upon in greater detail in part III of this text.

38 The Neolithic Revolution is a notable marker for a dramatic change in social

operation and human relationships as civilization went from foraging and

hunting – living in subservience to natural processes – to a profound ability

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

19

we have discussed come into relevance with belief and thought

systems.

39

While the notion of “sustainability” might be typically

associated with technical processes, eco-theory and engineering today,

we often forget that our values and beliefs precede all such technical

applications. Therefore, we need our cultural orientation to be

sustainable to begin with and that awareness can only come from a

valid recognition of the laws of nature to which we are bound.

Can we measure the integrity of a belief system? Yes. We can

measure it by how well its principles align with scientific causality,

based upon the feedback resulting. If we were to compare outcomes of

differing belief systems seeking a common end,

40

how well those

perspectives accomplish this end can be measured and hence these

systems can then be qualified and ranked against each other as to

their merit or lack thereof.

As will be explored in detail later in this work, the central belief

system comparison here is between the “market economy” and the

aforementioned “Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy.” At the core

of these systems is essentially a conflicting belief about causality and

possibility and the reader is challenged to make objective judgments

about how well each perspective may accomplish certain common end

human goals.

That noted and in the context of this essay, specifically the

points about emergence & symbiosis, it could be generalized that any

belief system that (a) does not have built into it the allowance for that

entire belief system itself to be altered or even made completely

obsolete due to new information, is an unsustainable belief system;

and (b) any belief system that supports isolation and division,

to control agriculture for food and create tools/machines to ease human

labor. It could be argued that human society has not been mature enough

to handle this ability and the perpetuation of fear and scarcity led to

hoarding, privatization, nation “gangs” and other divisive tendencies for

group self-preservation on various levels.

39 For philosophical clarity, it could be argued that all outcomes of human

perceptions are projected – even the laws of nature themselves. However,

this doesn’t change the efficacy that has been seen with respect to the

immense control and understanding we have through the method of

science.

40 The notion of the “common end” or “common ground” will be repeated in

this text and it is a critical awareness to average the needs, intents and

consequences of the human being. A central premise of what TZM is

advocating is that human beings are more alike than they are different as

we share the same basic quantifiable needs and reactions. In many ways

this is the unifying attribute that could comprise what is called “human

nature” and, as will be described more so in later essays, human beings

indeed have shared, predictable, common reactions to positive and negative

influences both psychological and physiological. Therefore, the intelligent,

humane organization of a society is required to take this into account

directly for the sake of public health – something the current monetary-

market system does not do.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

20

supporting the integrity of one segment or group over another is also

an unsustainable belief system.

Sociologically, having a scientific worldview means being

willing and able to adapt both as an individual and as a civilization

when new understandings and approaches emerge that can better

solve problems and further prosperity. This worldview likely marks the

greatest shift in human comprehension in history. Every modern

convenience we take for granted is a result of this method whether

recognized or not, as the inherent, self-generating, mechanistic logic

appears to be universally applicable to all known phenomena.

While many in the world still attribute causality to gods,

demons, spirits and other non-measurable “faith” based views, a new

period of reason appears to be on the horizon where the emerging

scientific understanding of ourselves and our habitat is challenging the

traditional, established frameworks we have inherited from our less

informed ancestors. No longer is the “technical”

41

orientation of

science demeaned to mere gadgets and tools. The true message of

this worldview is about the very philosophy by which we need orient

our lives, values and social institutions.

So, as will be argued in further essays, the social system, its

economic premise, along with its legal and political structure, has

become arguably linked to a condition of faith in the manner it is now

perpetuated. The market and monetary-driven system of economy, for

example, is argued to be based on little more than a set of now

outdated, increasingly inefficient assumptions, no different than how

early humans falsely assumed the world was flat, demons caused

sickness, or that the constellations in the sky were fixed, static, two-

dimensional, tapestry-like constructs. There are enormous parallels to

be found with traditional religious faith and the established, cultural

institutions we assume to be valid and “normal” today.

Just as the church in the Middle Ages held absolute power in

Europe, promoting loyalties and rituals which most would find absurd

or even insane today, those a number of generations from now will

likely look back at the established practices of our current time and

think the exact same thing.

41 As will be prolific in this text, the term “technical”, while virtually

synonymous with “scientific”, is employed to better express the causal

nature of all existing phenomena – even including human behavior and

psychology/sociology itself. Another central premise of what TZM is

advocating is that problem resolution and the manifestation of potential is a

“technical” evaluation and this approach, being applied to all societal

attributes, is at the core of the new social model advocated.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

21

-SOURCING SOLUTIONS-

A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive

and move toward higher levels.

42

– Albert Einstein

A central consideration inherent to TZM's perspective on societal

change for the better regards understanding “progress” itself. There

appear to be two basic angles to consider when it comes to personal or

social progress: manifesting potential and problem resolution.

Potential & Resolution

Manifesting potential is simply the improvement of a condition that

was not considered prior to be in a problematic state. An example

would be the ability to improve human athletic performance in a

particular field through targeted strengthening, diet, refining

techniques and other means that were simply not known before.

Problem resolution, on the other hand, is the overcoming of an

issue that has currently recognized detrimental consequences and/or

limitations to a given affair. A general example would be the discovery

of a medical cure for an existing, debilitating disease so that said

disease no longer poses harm.

However, taken in the broad view, there is a distinct overlap

with these two notions when the nature of knowledge development is

taken into account. For example, an “improvement” to a given

condition, a practice that then becomes normalized and common in the

culture, can also potentially be part of a “problem” in a familiar or

different context, which requires resolution in the event new

information as to its inefficiency is found or new advancements make

it obsolete by comparison.

For example, human air transportation, which is fairly new in

society, expanded transport efficiency greatly upon its application.

However, at what point will modern air transport be seen more as a

“problem” due to its inefficiency by comparison to another method?

43

So, efficiency is relative in this sense as only when there is an

expansion of knowledge that what was once considered the “best”

approach becomes “inferior”.

This seemingly abstract point is brought up to communicate

the simple fact that every single practice we consider normal today

has built into it an inevitable inefficiency which, upon new

developments in science and technology, will likely produce a

“problem” at some point in the future when compared to newer,

emerging potentials. This is the nature of change and if the scientific

42 Source: Atomic Education Urged by Einstein, New York Times, May 25

th

1946

43 A notable modern example is new transport technology such as “Maglev”

transport that uses less energy and moves substantially faster than

commercial airlines http://www.et3.com/

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

22

patterns of history reflect anything, it is that knowledge and its

applications continue to evolve and improve, generally speaking. So,

back to the seemingly separate issues of manifesting potential and

problem resolution, it can hence be deduced that all problem

resolutions are also acts of manifesting potential and vice versa.

This also means that the actual tools used by society for a

given purpose are always transient. Whether it is a medium of

transportation, medical practices, energy production, the social system

itself, etc.

44

These practices are all manifest/resolutions with respect to

human necessity and efficiency, based upon the ever-changing state of

understanding we have/had at the time of their creation/evolution.

Root Purpose & Root Cause

Therefore, when it comes to thinking about any act of invention or

problem solving, we must get as close to the root purpose (manifest)

or the root cause (problem) as possible, respectively, to make the

most accurate assessment for action. Just as tools and techniques for

potential are only as viable as the understanding of their foundational

purpose, actions toward problem resolution are only as good as the

understanding of the root cause. This might seem obvious, but this

awareness is often missing in many areas of thought in the world

today, especially when it comes to society. Rather than pursuing such

a focus, most social decisions are based around traditional customs

that have inherent limits.

A simple example of this is the current method of human

incarceration for so called “criminal behavior”. For many, the solution

to offensive forms of human behavior is to simply remove the

individual from society and punish them. This is based on a series of

assumptions that stretch back millennia.

45

Yet, the science behind human behavior has changed

tremendously with respect to understanding causality. It is now

common knowledge in the social sciences that most acts of “crime”

would likely not occur if certain basic, supportive environmental

conditions were set for the human being.

46

Putting people in prisons is

not actually resolving anything with respect to the causal problem. It is

more of a mere “patch”, if you will, which only temporarily stifles some

44 Again, this reality is embodied by the term “application set”.

45 Reference: Violence: Our Deadly Epidemic and Its Causes, Dr. James

Gilligan, 1996

46 The ‘Merva-Fowles’ study, done at the University of Utah in the 1990s,

found powerful connections between unemployment and crime. They based

their research on 30 major metropolitan areas with a total population of

over 80 million. Their findings found that a 1% rise in unemployment

resulted in: a 6.7% increase in Homicides; a 3.4% increase in violent

crimes; a 2.4% increase in property crime. During the period from 1990 to

1992, this translated into: 1,459 additional Homicides; 62,607 additional

violent crimes; 223,500 additional property crimes. (Merva & Fowles, Effects

of Diminished Economic Opportunities on Social Stress, Economic Policy

Institute, 1992)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

23

effects of the larger problem.

47

Another example, while seemingly different than the prior but

equally as “technical”, is the manner by which most think about

solutions to common domestic problems, such as traffic accidents.

What is the solution to a situation where a driver makes a mistake and

haphazardly changes lanes, only to impact the vehicle next to it,

causing an accident? Should there be a huge wall between them?

Should there be better training? Should the person simply have his or

her driver’s license revoked so they cannot drive again? It is here,

again, where the notion of root cause is often lost in the narrow

frames of reference commonly understood by culture.

The root cause of the accident can only partially be the

question of integrity of the driver with the more important issue being

the lack of integrity of the technology and infrastructure being used.

Why? - Because, in part, human fallibility is historically acknowledged

and immutable.

48

So, just as early vehicles did not have driver and/or

passenger side “airbags” common today, which now reduce a large

number of injuries that existed in the past,

49

the same logic should be

applied to the system of vehicle interaction itself, taking into account

new technical possibilities for increased safety, to compensate for

inevitable human error.

Just as the airbag was developed years ago as the evolution of

knowledge unfolded, today there is technology that enables

automated, driverless vehicles which can not only detect every

necessary element of the street needed to operate with accuracy, the

vehicles themselves can detect each other, making collision almost

impossible.

50

This is the current state of such a solution when we

consider the root cause and root purpose, overall.

Yet, as advanced as that solution may seem, especially given

the roughly 1.2 million people who unnecessarily die in automobile

accidents each year,

51

this thought exercise may still be incomplete if

we continue to extend the context with respect to the core goals.

Perhaps there are other inefficiencies that relate to the transport

infrastructure and beyond that need to be taken into account and

overcome. Perhaps, for example, the use of individual automobiles,

regardless of their safety, has other inherent problems that can only

47 Reference: Ben McLeish lecture: “Out of the Box: Prisons”

(www.thezeitgeistmovement.com)

48 Reference: Human error: models and management, James Reason, 2000

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc1117770/)

49 A 1996 NHTSA study found the fatality reduction benefit of airbags for all

drivers at an estimated 11 percent.

(http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate/808470.html)

50 Source: Google Engineer Claims Its Driverless Cars Could Save A Million

Lives Every Year, Blake Z. Rong (http://www.autoguide.com/auto-

news/2011/04/google-engineer-claims-its-driverless-cars-could-save-a-

million-lives-every-year.html)

51 Source: Car Accident Statistics (http://www.car-

accidents.com/pages/stats.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

24

be logically resolved by the removal of the automobile application

itself. Perhaps in a city, with an expanding mobile population, such

independent vehicle transport becomes unnecessarily cumbersome,

slow and generally inefficient.

52

The more viable solution in this circumstance might become

the need for a unified, integrated mass transit system that can

increase speed, reduce energy use, reduce resource use, and reduce

pollution along with many other related issues to the effect that using

automobiles in such a condition then becomes part of an emerging

problem. If the goal of a society is to do the “correct” and hence

sustainable thing, reducing threats to humans and the habitat, ever

increasing efficiency, a dynamic, self-generating logic unfolds with

respect to our technical possibility and design approaches.

Our Technical Reality

Of course, the application of this type of problem solving is far from

limited to such physical examples. Is politics as we know it the best

means to address our social woes? Does it address root causes by its

very design? Is money and the market system the most optimized

method for sustainable progress, problem resolution and the

manifesting of economic potential? What does our modern state of

science and technology have to contribute in the realm of

understanding cause and purpose on the societal level?

As further essays will denote in great detail, these

understandings create a natural, clear train of thought with respect to

how much better our world could be if we simply follow the logic

created via the scientific method of thought to fulfill our common goal

of human sustainability. The one billion people starving on this planet

are not doing so because of some immutable natural consequence of

our physical reality. There is plenty of food to go around.

53

It is the

social system, which has its own outdated, contrived logic, that

perpetuates this social atrocity, along with countless others.

It is important to point out that TZM is not concerned with

promoting “patches” as its ultimate goal, which, sad to say, is what

the vast majority of activist institutions on the planet are currently

doing.

54

We want to promote the largest order, highest efficiency set

52 A slow, general shift, even in modern commercial society, from “ownership”

to “access” is beginning to find favor today.

(http://gigaom.com/2011/11/10/airbnb-roadmap-2011/)

53 Major international organizations have stated statistically that there is

enough food for everyone and that starvation is not caused by a lack of

resources. (http://www.wfp.org/hunger/causes) In combination with

efficiency improvements which will be noted more so in Part III, the possibly

for absolute global food abundance of the highest nutrient quality is also

possibly today.

54 This comment is not meant to demean any well-meaning social institution

working to help within the bounds of the current socioeconomic method.

However, as will be described more so in Part II, the current social model

inherently restricts a vast amount of possible prosperity/problem solving

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

25

of solutions available at a given time, aligned with natural processes,

to improve the lives of all, while securing the integrity of our habitat.

We want everyone to understand this “train of thought” clearly and

develop a value identification with it. In the end, there is no single

solution – only the near empirical natural law reasoning that arrives at

solutions and purpose.

due to its very design and hence activist and social institutions which avoid

this reality and can only be working to help “patch” problems, not fix them,

since they originate from the social system itself. A common example is

charity organizations that wish to provide food to the poor. These

organizations are not usually addressing why those people are poor to begin

with and hence are not truly working to resolve the root problem(s).

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

26

-LOGIC vs. PSYCHOLOGY-

We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we

rather have those because we have acted rightly.

55

-Aristotle

A powerful yet often overlooked consequence of our environmental

vulnerability to adapt to the existing culture is that our very identity

and personality is often linked to the institutions, practices, trends and

hence values we are born into and exist in. This psychological

adaptation and inevitable familiarity creates a comfort zone which,

over time, can be painful to disrupt, regardless of how well reasoned

the data standing to the contrary of what we believe may be.

In fact, the vast majority of objections currently found against

The Zeitgeist Movement, specifically points made with respect to

solutions and hence change, appear to be driven by narrow frames of

reference and emotional bias more than intellectual assessment.

Common reactions of this kind are often singular propositions that,

rather than critically addressing the actual premises articulated by an

argument, serve to dismiss them outright via haphazard associations.

The most common classification of such arguments are “projections”

56

and it becomes clear very often that such opponents are actually more

concerned with defending their psychological identity rather than

objectively considering a new perspective.

57

Mind Lock

In a classic work by authors Cohen and Nagel titled “An Introduction to

Logic and The Scientific Method”, this point is well made with respect

to the process of logical evaluation and its independence from human

psychology.

“The weight of evidence is not itself a temporal event, but a

relation of implication between certain classes or types of

propositions...Of course, thought is necessary to apprehend such

55 Source: The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's

Greatest Philosophers, Will Durant, 1926

56 Sigmund Freud was first to make famous the idea of Psychological

Projection, defined as 'a psychological defense mechanism where a person

subconsciously denies his or her own attributes, thoughts, and emotions,

which are then ascribed to the outside world, usually to other people.'

However, the use of the term is more general in this context, reflecting the

simple notion of assuming to understand an idea based on a false or

superficial relationship to prior understandings - usually in a defensive

posture for dismissal of validity.

57 The term “cognitive pathology” is a suggested descriptor of this

phenomenon. A common characteristic is 'circular reasoning' where a belief

is justified by merely re-referencing the belief itself. For example, to ask a

Theist why they believe in God, a common answer might be “Faith”. To ask

why they have “Faith” often results in a response like “because God rewards

those who have Faith”. The causality orientation is truncated and self-

referring.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

27

implications...however [that] does not make physics a branch of

psychology. The realization that logic cannot be restricted to

psychological phenomenon will help us to discriminate between our

science and rhetoric - conceiving the latter as the art of persuasion or

of arguing so as to produce the feeling of certainty. Our emotional

dispositions make it very difficult for us to accept certain propositions,

no matter how strong the evidence in their favor. And since all proof

depends upon the acceptance of certain propositions as true, no

proposition can be proved to be true to one who is sufficiently

determined not to believe it.”

58

The term “mind lock” has been coined by some philosophers

59

with respect to this phenomenon, defined as 'the condition where

one's perspective becomes self-referring, in a closed loop of

reasoning'. Seemingly empirical presuppositions frame and secure

one's worldview and anything contradictory coming from the outside

can be blocked or rejected, often even subconsciously. This reaction

could be likened to the common physical reflex to protect oneself from

a foreign object moving towards your person – only in this

circumstance the “reflex” is to defend one's beliefs, not body.

While such phrases as “thinking outside the box” might be

common rhetoric today in the activist community, seldom are the

foundations of our way of thinking and the integrity of our most

established institutions challenged. They are, more often than not,

considered to be “givens” and assumed inalterable.

For example, in the so-called democracies of the world, a

“president”, or the equivalent, is a common point of focus with respect

to the quality of a country's governance. A large amount of attention is

spent toward such a figure, his perspectives and actions. Yet, seldom

does one step back and ask: “Why do we have a president to begin

with?” “How is his/her power as an institutional figure justified as an

optimized manner of social governance?” “Is it not a contradiction of

terms to claim a democratic society when the public has virtually no

real say with respect to the actions of the president once he or she is

elected?”

Such questions are seldom considered as people tend, again,

to adapt to their culture without objection, assuming it is “just the way

it is”. Such static orientations are almost universally a result of cultural

tradition and, as Cohen and Nagel point out, it is very difficult to

communicate a new, challenging idea to those who are “sufficiently

determined not to believe it”.

Such traditional presuppositions, held as empirical, are likely a

root source of personal and social retardation in the world today. This

phenomenon, coupled with an educational system that constantly

reinforces such established notions through its institutions of

“academia”, further seals this cultural inhibition and compounds the

58 Logic and The Scientific Method, Cohen and Nagel, Harcourt, 1934, p.19

59 Reference: The Cancer Stage of Capitalism, John McMurtry, Pluto Press,

1999, Chapter 1

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

28

hindrance to relevant change.

60

While the scope of this tendency is wide with respect to

debate, there are two common argumentative fallacies worth noting

here as they constantly come up with respect to the application-set

and train of thought promoted by TZM. Put in colorful terms, these

tactics comprise what could be called a “value war”

61

which is waged,

consciously or not, by those who have vested emotional/material

interest in keeping things the same, opposing change.

The “Prima Facie” Fallacy

The first is the “prima facie” association. This simply means “upon first

appearance”; “before investigation”.

62

This is by far the most common

type of objection. A classical case study is the common claim that the

observations and solutions presented by TZM are simply rehashed

“Marxist communism”.

Let's briefly explore this as an example. Referencing “The

Communist Manifesto”

63

Marx and Engels present various observations

with respect to the evolution of society, specifically “class war”,

inherent structural relationships regarding “capital”, along with a

general logic as to how the social order will transition through

“revolution” to a stateless, classless system, in part, while also noting

a series of direct social changes, such as the “centralization of the

means of communication and transport in the hands of the state”,

“equal liability of all to labor.” and other specifics. Marx creates players

in the schema he suggests like the ongoing battle between the

“bourgeoisie and proletarians”, expressing contempt for the inherent

exploitation, which he says is essentially rooted in the idea of “private

property”. In the end, the accumulated goal in general is in seeking a

“stateless and classless society”.

On the surface, reformations proposed in TZM's promoted

solutions might appear to mirror attributes of “Marxism” if one was to

completely ignore the underlying reasoning. The idea of a society

60 Criticism here of “academia” is not to be confused with its standard

definition, meaning a 'community of students and scholars engaged in

higher education and research.' The context here is the inhibiting nature of

“schools” of thought which all too often evolve to create an ego unto itself

where conflicting data is ignored or haphazardly dismissed. Also, there is a

risk common to this mode of thought where “theory” and “tradition” take

prominence over “experience” and “experiment” very often, perpetuating

false conclusions.

61 Reference: Value Wars: The Global Market Versus the Life Economy: Moral

Philosophy and Humanity, John McMurtry, Pluto Press, 2002

62 Source: Dictionary.com

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prima+facie)

63 Written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848 this text is widely

considered the definitive ideological expression of Marxist communism.

“Communism” is said to be the practical implementation of “Marxism”. View

Online: (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-

manifesto/index.htm)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

29

“without classes”, “without universal property”, and the complete

redefinition of what comprises the “state” might, on the surface, show

confluence by the mere gestures themselves, especially since western

academia commonly promotes a “duality” between “communism” and

“capitalism” with the aforementioned character points noted as the

core differences. However, the actual train of thought to support these

seemingly similar conclusions is quite different.

TZM's advocated benchmark for decision-making is not a Moral

Philosophy,

64

which, when examined at its root, is essentially what

Marxist philosophy was a manifestation of. TZM is not interested in the

poetic, subjective and arbitrary notions of “a fair society”, ”guaranteed

freedom”, “world peace”, or “making a better world” simply because it

sounds “right”, “humane” or “good”. Without a technical framework

that has a direct physical referent to such terms, such moral relativism

serves little to no long-term purpose.

Rather, TZM is interested in scientific application, as applied to

societal sustainability, both physical and cultural.

65

As will be

expressed in greater detail in further essays, the method of science is

not restricted in its application within the “physical world”

66

and hence

the social system, infrastructure, educational relevance and even

understanding human behavior itself, all exist within the confines of

scientific causality. In turn, there is a natural feedback system built

into physical reality which will express itself very clearly in the context

of what “works” and what doesn't over time,

67

guiding our conscious

64 Defined as 'the branch of philosophy dealing with both argument about the

content of morality and meta-ethical discussion of the nature of moral

judgment, language, argument, and value.'

(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/moral+philosophy)

65 The argument that science is not a philosophy is certainly open to semantics

and interpretation but the point being made here is that notions of “right

and wrong” and other “ethical” distinctions common to philosophy take on a

very different light in the scientific context as it has more to do with utility

and balance than mere concepts of “morality” as it is classically defined. In

the view of Science, human behavior is best aligned with the inherent

causality discovered in the natural world, validated by testing, building

inference and logical associations to justify human actions as “appropriate”

to a given purpose. Again, this is always ambiguous on some level and likely

the most accurate context of philosophy as related to science is as a

precursor to validation during investigation and experimentation.

66 The term “physical world” is often used to differentiate between the

“mental” processes of the human mind or sociological type phenomena, and

the physical environment that exists outside of the cognitive processes of

human perception. In reality there is nothing outside the “physical world” as

we know it, as there is to be found no concrete example where causal

relationships are simply voided.

67 Feedback from the Environment could be said to be the “correction

mechanism” of nature as it relates to human decisions. A simple example

would be the industrial production of chemicals that produce negative

retroactions when released into the environment, showing incompatibility

with environmental needs for life-support - such as was the case with CFCs

and their effect on Ozone Depletion.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

30

adaptation.

Marxism is not based on this “calculated” worldview at all,

even though there might be some scientifically based characteristics

inherent. For example, the Marxist notion of a “classless society” was

to overcome the capitalist originating “inhumanity” imposed on the

working class or “proletariat”.

TZM's advocated train of thought, on the other hand, sources

advancements in human studies. It finds, for example, that social

stratification, which is inherent to the capitalist/market model, to

actually be a form of indirect violence against the vast majority as a

result of the evolutionary psychology we humans naturally posses.

68

It

generates an unnecessary form of human suffering on many levels,

which is destabilizing and, by implication, technically unsustainable.

Another example is TZM's interest in removing universal

property

69

and setting up a system of “shared access”. This is often

quickly condemned to the Marxist idea of “abolishing private property”.

However, generally speaking, the Marxist logic relates the existence of

private property to the perpetuation of the “bourgeois” and their

ongoing exploitation of the “proletariat”. He states in the Manifesto:

“The distinguishing feature of Communism is not the abolition of

property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property.”

TZM's advocated logic, on the other hand, relates the fact that

the practice of universal, individual ownership of goods is

environmentally inefficient, wasteful and ultimately unsustainable as a

practice. This supports a restrictive system behavior and a great deal

of unnecessary deprivation, and hence crime is common in societies

with an unequal distribution of resources.

At any rate, such “prima facie” allegations are very common

and many more could be expressed. However, it is not the scope of

this section to discuss all alleged connections between Marxism and

TZM's advocated train of thought. In the end, the debate is essentially

pointless as to argue such a correlation is to simply ignore the true

purpose and merit of the societal conception itself.

The “Straw-Man” Fallacy

The second argumentative fallacy has to do with the misrepresentation

of a position, deliberate or projected, commonly referred to as a

“straw-man”.

70

When it comes to TZM, this usually has to do with

68 Reference: The Spirit Level, Kate Pickett & Richard Wilkinson, Bloomsbury

Press, 2011

69 This concept will be explored more in part III but it is worth noting that the

type of “access” enabled by the suggested social system (NLRBE) does not

rule out legal relationships to secure the use of goods. The idea of reducing

the current property system to one of 'protected access' where, for

example, a camera obtained from a distribution center is given legal status

upon it rental to that person, is not to be confused with the capitalist notion

of property, which is a universal distinction and a great source of industrial

inefficiency and imbalance.

70 Likely the best description of this is to imagine a fight in which one of the

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

31

imposed interpretations that are without legitimate evidence to be

considered relevant to a point in question.

For example, when discussing the organization of a new social

system, people often project their current values and concerns into the

new model without considering the vast change of context inherent

which would likely nullify such concerns immediately. A common

straw-man projection in this context would be that in a society where

material production were based upon technological application directly

and not an exchange system requiring paid human labor, people would

have no incentive to do anything and therefore the model would fail as

nothing would get done.

This kind of argument is without testable validity with respect

to the human sciences and is really an intuitive assumption originating

from the current cultural climate where the economic system coerces

all humans into labor roles for survival (income/profit). This often

occurs regardless of one's personal interest or social utility, often

generating a psychological distortion with respect to motivation.

In the words of Margaret Mead: ”If you look closely you will

see that almost anything that really matters to us, anything that

embodies our deepest commitment to the way human life should be

lived and cared for, depends on some form of volunteerism.”

71

In a

1992 Gallup Poll, more than 50% of American adults (94 million

Americans) volunteered time for social causes, at an average of 4.2

hours a week, for a total of 20.5 billion hours a year.

72

It has also been found in studies that repetitive, mundane jobs

lend themselves more to traditional rewards such as money, whereas

money doesn't seem to motivate innovation and creativity.

73

In later

essays, the idea of mechanization/automation applied to mundane

labor to free the human being will be discussed, expressing how the

labor-for-income system is outdated and restrictive of not only

industrial potential and efficiency, but also human potential and

creativity overall.

Another common, contextual example of a “straw-man” is the

claim that if the transition to a new social system was acted upon, the

property of others must be forcefully confiscated by a “ruling power”

and violence would be the result. This, once again, is a value

projection/fear, imposed upon TZM's advocated logic without

validation.

TZM sees the materialization of a new socioeconomic model

happening with the needed consensus of the population. Its very

understanding, along with the “bio-social pressures” occurring as the

opponents sets up a man made of straw, attacks it, then proclaims victory.

All the while, the real opponent stands by untouched.

71 Source: “Have you noticed...”, Vital Speeches of the Day, Robert Krikorian,

1985, p.301

72 Source: Giving and Volunteering in the United States: Findings from a

National Survey, Hodgkinson & Weitzman, 1992, p.2

73 Reference: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel

Pink, Riverhead, 2011

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

32

current system worsens, is the basis of influence. The logic does not

support a “dictatorial” disposition because that approach, apart from

being inhumane, wouldn't work.

In order for such a system to work, it needs to be accepted

without active state coercion. Therefore, it is an issue of investigation,

education, and broad personal acceptance in the community. In fact,

the very specifics of social interaction and lifestyle actually demand a

vast majority acceptance of the system's mechanics and values.

Similarly, and final example here of the “straw-man”, is the

confusion about how a transition to a new system could happen at all.

In fact, many tend to dismiss TZM's proposals on that basis alone,

simply because they don't understand how it can happen. This

argument, in principle, is the same reasoning as the example of a sick

man who is seeking treatment for his illness but does not know where

he can get such treatment, when it would be available, or what the

treatment is. Does his lack of knowing how and when stop his need to

seek? No - not if he wants to be healthy. Given the dire state of affairs

on this planet, humanity must also keep seeking and a path will

inevitably come clear.

74

In the end, it is worth reiterating that the battle between logic

and psychology is really a central conflict in the arena of societal

change. There is no context more personal and sensitive than the way

we organize our lives in society and an important objective of TZM, in

many ways, is to find techniques that can educate the public as to the

merit of this logical train of thought, overcoming the baggage of

outdated psychological comforts which serve no progressive, viable

value role in the modern world.

74 More on the subject of transition in part IV.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

33

-THE CASE FOR HUMAN UNITY-

My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.

75

-Thomas Paine

A critical conclusion present in the logic that defines TZM's intention is

that human society needs to unify its economic operations and work to

align with the natural dynamics of the physical world as a single

species sharing one habitat if we intend to resolve existing problems,

increase safety, increase efficiency and further prosperity. The world

economic divisions we see today are not only a clear source of conflict,

destabilization and exploitation, the very manner of conduct and

interaction itself is also grossly inefficient in a pure economic sense,

severely limiting our societal potential.

76

While the nation-state, competition-based structure is easy to

justify as a natural outgrowth of our cultural evolution given the

resource scarcity inherent historically and the long history of warfare

in general, it is also natural to consider that human society could very

well find purpose in moving away from these modes of operation if we

were to realize that it is truly to our advantage as a whole group.

As will be argued here, the detriments and inefficiencies of the

current model, when compared to the benefits and solutions possible,

are simply unacceptable. The efficiency and abundance possibilities,

extrapolated within TZM's intention to install a new socioeconomic

system, rest, in part, on a concerted effort by the human population to

work together and share resources intelligently, not restrict and fight

as we do today.

Moreover, the social pressures and risks now emerging today

around technological warfare, pollution, environmental destabilization

and other problems not only express a deeply needed gravitation for

true global organization, they show a rational necessity. The

xenophobic and mafia-like mentality indigenous to the nation-state

today, often in the form of “patriotism”, is a source of severe

destabilization and inhumanity in general, not to mention, again, a

substantial loss of technical efficiency.

False Divisions

As noted in prior essays, the core basis of our survival and quality of

life as individuals and as a species on the Earth revolves around our

75 Source: Rights of Man, Thomas Paine, 1791, p.162

76 One example of this would be the patriotic economic bias that often

influences the actions of regional industry. In physical reality, there is

technically only one economy when working with the planet earth's

resources and natural laws. The idea of “Made in America”, for instance,

generates an immediate technical inefficiency, for proper goods production

is a global affair on all levels, including the usufruct of world knowledge. To

intentionally restrict labor and materials use/acquisition to only within the

borders of a given country is economically counterproductive in the truest

sense of the word “economy”.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

34

understanding of natural law and how it relates to our method of

economy. This premise is a simple referential understanding where the

physical laws of nature are considered in the context of economic

efficiency, both on the human and habitat levels. It is only logical that

any species present in and reliant on the habitat in which it exists

should conform all conduct to align with the natural orders inherent to

that habitat, as best they can be understood at the time. Any other

orientation is simply irrational and can only lead to problems.

Understanding that Earth is a symbiotic/synergistic “system”

with resources existing in all areas, coupled with the provably

inherent, underlying causal scientific order that exists, in many ways,

as a logical “guide” for the human species to align with for the greatest

societal efficacy, we find that our larger context as a global society

transcends all notions of traditional/cultural division, including having

no loyalty to a country, corporation or even “political” tradition.

If an “economy” is about increasing efficiency in meeting the

needs of the human population while working to further sustainability

and prosperity, then our economic operations must take this into

account and align with the largest relevant “system” that we can

understand. So again, from this perspective, the nation-state entities

are clearly false, arbitrary divisions perpetuated by cultural tradition,

not logical, technical efficiency.

Values

The broad organization of society today is based on multi-level human

competition. Nation-states compete against each other for

economic/physical resources; corporate market entities compete for

profit/market-share; and average workers compete for wage providing

occupations/income and hence personal survival itself.

Within this competitive ethic is a basic psychological propensity

to disregard the wellbeing of others and the habitat. The very nature

of competition is about having advantage over others for personal gain

and hence, needless to say, division and exploitation are common

attributes of the current social order. Interestingly, virtually all so-

called “corruption” which we may define as “crime” in the world today

is based upon the very same mentality assumed to guide “progress” in

the world through the competitive interest.

It is no wonder, in fact, given this framework, that various

other detrimental, superficial social divisions are still pervasive such as

race, religion, creed, class or xenophobic bias. This divisive baggage

from early, fear-oriented stages of our cultural evolution simply has no

working basis in the physical reality and serves now only to hinder

progress, safety and sustainability.

Today, as will be described in later essays, the possible

efficiency and abundance-producing methods that could remove most

all human deprivation, increase the average standard of living

enormously and perfect public health and ecological sustainability

greatly – go unembraced due to the older social traditions in place,

including the nation-state idea. The fact is, there is technically only

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

35

one race - the human race;

77

there is only one basic habitat - Earth;

and there is only one working manner of operational thought –

scientific.

Origins and Influence

Let's quickly consider the root origins of the competitive/divisive

model. Without going into too much detail, it is clear that the evolution

of society has included a vast history of conflict, scarcity and

imbalance. While there is debate as to the nature of society during the

period of time preceding the Neolithic Revolution,

78

the Earth since

that time has been a battlefield where countless lives have been taken

for the sake of competition, whether material or ideological.

79

This recognized pattern is so pervasive in fact that many today

attribute the propensity for conflict and domination to an

irreconcilable, impulsive characteristic of our human nature with the

conclusion that the human being is simply unable to operate in a social

system that is not based upon this competitive framework and any

such attempt will create vulnerability that will be exploited by power

abuse, expressing this apparent competitive/dominance trait.

80

While the subject of human nature itself is not the direct focus

of this essay,

81

let it be stated that the “empirical power abuse”

assumption has been a large part of the defense of the

competitive/divisive model, using a general broad view of history as its

basis for validity. However, the specifics of the conditions in those

periods, coupled with the known flexibility of the human being are

often disregarded or ignored in these assessments.

82

77 In the field of human genetics, “Mitochondrial Eve” refers to the

matrilineally most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of modern humans. In

other words, she was the most recent woman from whom all living humans

today descend, on their mother's side. We are one family. Also, all

characteristics of race difference (facial features/skin color) have been

found to be linked to the environmental conditions where such sub-groups

of humans lived/evolved. Hence it is a false distinction as a means for

superficial discrimination.

78 Sometimes also called the Agricultural Revolution, it was the world's first

historically verifiable revolution in agriculture. It was the wide-scale

transition of many human cultures from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering

to one of agriculture and settlement that supported an increasingly large

population and the basis for modern social patterns today.

79 In the 20

th

century alone, statisticians put the human death toll from war

between 180 to 220 million, with some challenging those numbers by

claiming evidence puts the toll 3 times higher in many regional cases:

(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080619194142.htm)

80 A classic text that employed this basic fear was Hayek's The Road to

Serfdom. “Human Nature” had a very clear implication, justified

fundamentally by historical trends of totalitarianism suggested to be linked

to collaborative/planned economies.

81 This is expanded upon in the essay The Final Argument: Human Nature.

82 The Nature/Nurture Debate has been well established as a false duality in

behavioral biology/evolutionary psychology fields of study. The reality is

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

36

The historical pattern of conflict cannot be considered in mere

isolation. Detailed reference to the conditions and circumstances are

needed. In fact, it's likely accurate to say that the dominance/conflict

propensity which is clearly a possible reaction for nearly all humans in

our need for self-preservation and survival in general

83

is being

provoked by pressures rather than being the source of any negative

reaction. When we wonder how the massive Nazi army were able to

morally justify their actions in World War II, we often forget the

enormous propaganda campaign put out by that regime which worked

to exploit this essentially biological vulnerability.

84

True ”Self-Interest”

The notion of “self-interest” is clearly inherent to the human being's

common urge to survive. This is obvious enough and it is easy to see

historically how the raw necessity of personal survival, often extending

to family and then the “tribe” (community), set the stage for the

divisive, protectionist paradigm we exist in today. It should have been

expected from the standpoint of history that vast economic theories

would also be based upon the notion of competition and inequality,

such as in the work of Adam Smith. Considered the father of the “free

market”, he made popular the assumption that if everyone had the

ethic to look out for themselves only, the world would progress as a

community.

85

This “invisible hand” notion of human progress arising from

that of a perpetual interaction with the gravity of relevance shifting on a per

case basis. However, what is relevant here is the study of the human

being's “range of behavior” and exactly how adaptable and flexible we are.

Reference: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, Robert Sapolsky, W. H. Freeman,

1998

83 Commonly termed: “The fight-or-flight response” (or the acute stress

response) and was first described by American physiologist Walter Bradford

Cannon.

84 "Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a

farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to

come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't

want war neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany.

That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who

determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people

along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament,

or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be

brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell

them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of

patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any

country." -Hermann Göring (A leading member of the Nazi Party; From an

interview with Gilbert in Göring's jail cell during the Nuremberg War Crimes

Trials, 18 April 1946)

85 “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that

we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We

address ourselves not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never

talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages”. (An Inquiry

into the Nature & Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, Vol. 1)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

37

narrow personal self-interest alone might have been a semi-workable

philosophy many years ago when the simplicity of the society itself

was based on everyone being something of a producer.

86

However, the

nature of society has changed greatly over time, with population

increases, entirely different role structures and exponentially

advancing technology. The risks associated with this manner of

thought are now proving to be more dangerous than beneficial, and

the true definition of “self-interest” is taking a larger context than ever

before.

Is it not in your self-interest to protect and nourish the habitat

that supports you? Is it not in your self-interest to take care of society

as a whole, providing for its members, so that the consequences of

deprivation, such as “crime” are reduced as much as possible to

ensure your safety? Is it not self-interest to consider the consequences

of imperialist wars that can breed fierce jingoistic hatred on one side of

the planet, only to have, say, a suitcase bomb explode behind you at a

restaurant as a desperate “blow-back” act of retribution?

Is it not self-interest to assure all of societies' children have

the best upbringing and education so that your future and the future of

your children can exist in a responsible, educated, and increasingly

productive world? Is it not in your self-interest to make sure industry

is as organized, optimized and scientifically accurate as possible, so

that we do not produce shoddy, cheap technology that might perhaps

cause a problem in the future if it fails?

The bottom line is that things have changed in the world today

and your self-interest is now only as good as your societal interest.

Being competitive and going out for yourself, “beating” others only has

a negative consequence in the long-term, for it is denying awareness

of the synergistic system we are bound within. A cheaply made nuclear

power plant in Japan might not mean much to people in America.

However, if that plant was to have a large scale technical failure, the

fallout and pollution might make its way over to American homes,

proving that you are never safe in the long run unless you have a

global consciousness.

86 Sociologist Thorstein Veblen, writing in 1917, made this acute observation

with respect to the changes in society and how they reflect the original

premise of the market economy. “The standard theories of economic science

have assumed the rights of property and contract as axiomatic premises

and ultimate terms of analysis; and their theories are commonly drawn in

such a form as would fit the circumstances of the handicraft industry and

the petty trade... these theories ...appear tenable, on the whole, when

taken to apply to the economic situation of that earlier time... It is when

these standard theories are sought to be applied to the later situation,

which has outgrown the conditions of handicraft, that they appears nugatory

or meretricious.” (An Inquiry Into The Nature Of Peace And The Terms Of

Its Perpetuation) He also foreshadowed the rise of the “investment class” as

today non-producing financial institution like banks & the stocks market

have become more rewarding profit-wise than the actual manufacturing of

true goods.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

38

In the end, only an Earth-humankind conscious view can

assure a person's true self-interest and hence, in many ways, also

assure our society's “evolutionary fitness”.

87

The very idea of wishing

to support “your country” and ignoring or even enjoying the failure of

others, is a destabilizing value system.

Warfare

The days of practical warfare are long over. New technology on the

horizon has the ability to create weapons that will make the atom

bomb look like a roman catapult in destructive power.

88

Centuries ago,

warfare could at least be minimized to the warring parties overall.

Today, the entire world is threatened. There are over 23,000 Nuclear

Weapons today, which could wipe out the human population many

times over.

89

In many ways, our very social maturity is being questioned at

this time. Battles with only sticks and stones as weapons could tolerate

a great deal of human distortion and malicious intent. However, in a

world of nano-tech weapons that could be constructed in a small lab

with enormous destructive power, our expanded self-interest needs to

take hold and the institution of war needs to be systematically

shutdown. In order to do this, nations must technically unify and share

their resources and ideas, not hoard them for competitive self-

betterment, which is the norm today.

Institutions like the United Nations have become complete

failures in this regard because they naturally become tools of empire

building due to the underlying nature of country divisions and the

socioeconomic dominance of the property/monetary/competition-

based system orientation. It is not enough to simply gather global

“leaders” at a table to discuss their problems. The structure itself

needs to change to support a different type of interaction between

these regional “groups” where the perpetual “threat” inherent between

nation-states is removed.

In the end, there is no empirical ownership of resources or

ideas. Just as all ideas are serially developed across culture through

the group mind, the resources of the planet are equally as transient in

their function and scientifically defined as to their possible purposes.

The Earth is a single system, along with the laws of nature that govern

it. Either human society recognizes and begins to act and organize on

this inherent logic, or we suffer in the long run.

87 Evolutionary Fitness is a biological term generally defined as "The

probability that the line of descent from an individual with a specific trait will

not die out." In this context we are linking human actions, socially, to the

idea of species survival.

88 Reference: Applications for Warfare

(http://crnano.typepad.com/crnblog/2005/05/applications_fo.html)

89 Source: Nuclear Weapons: 20 Facts They Don't Want You to Think About,

Jim McCluskey, 2011

(http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/db_article.php?article_id=253

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

39

-THE FINAL ARGUMENT: HUMAN NATURE-

Man acquires at birth, through heredity, a biological constitution which we must

consider fixed and unalterable, including the natural urges which are

characteristic of the human species. In addition, during his lifetime, he acquires

a cultural constitution which he adopts from society through communication

and through many other types of influences. It is this cultural constitution

which, with the passage of time, is subject to change and which determines to

a very large extent the relationship between the individual and society.

90

-A. Einstein

The Only Argument Remaining

The “train of thought” and “application-set”

91

presented in TZM's

materials are technical by nature, expressing the interest of applying

the method and merit of scientific causality to the social system as a

whole.

The benefits of this approach are not only to be taken on their

own merit but should also be considered in contrast to today's

established, traditional methods and their consequences. It will likely

then be noticed that our current societal methods are not only grossly

outdated and inefficient by comparison - they are increasingly

dangerous and inhumane - with the necessity for large scale social

change becoming ever more important. This isn't about “utopia”. It is

about truly practical improvements.

The overall basis of the market concept has to do

fundamentally with assumptions related to human behavior, traditional

values and an intuitive view of history - not emergent reasoning,

actual public health measures, technical capacity or ecological

responsibility. It is a non-technical, philosophical approach, which

merely assumes that human decisions made through its internal logic

(and incentive system), will produce a responsible, sustainable and

humane outcome, driven by the illusive notion of “freedom of choice”

which, on the scale of societal functionality, appears tantamount to

organizational anarchy.

92

90 Why Socialism?, Albert Einstein, 1949

(http://monthlyreview.org/2009/05/01/why-socialism)

91 The “train of thought” has to do with the underlying reasoning that arrives

at the conclusions of TZM's advocation - while the “application-set” is simply

the current state of applied technology today. The difference between the

two is that the former is near empirical while the latter is transient since

technological tools are always undergoing change.

92 Much can be said on the subject of economic organization and mechanisms

for industrial production and more will be described in part III. However, let

it be stated here that the “price mechanism”, which is the central catalyst

for economic unfolding today, is inherently anarchistic due to the lack of

efficient system relationships within macro-industrial practices. Production,

distribution and resource allocation is not “strategic” in a technical, physical

sense by any stretch of the imagination – the only strategy employed, which

is the defining context of “efficiency” in the market economy, has to do with

the profit and loss/labor cost/expense type monetary parameters which

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

40

This is why the monetary-market model of economics is often

considered religious by nature in TZM materials as the causal

mechanism is really based on virtually superstitious assumptions of

the human condition with little linkage to emerging scientific

understandings about ourselves and the rigid symbiotic/synergistic

relationship of our habitat and its governing natural laws.

When presenting TZM's solution-oriented train of thought to

those unfamiliar, it is usually just a matter of time before, at a

minimum, the basic scientific premise is understood and accepted in

abstraction. For example, the isolated technical reality that we have

the resources and industrial methods to easily feed everyone on the

planet earth, so no one has to starve,

93

rarely finds argument in and of

itself. If you were to ask an average person today if they would like to

see an end to the over one billion people in currently in chronic

starvation on the planet,

94

they would most likely agree.

However, it is when the logic runs its course and starts to

depict the type of large-scale social and economic reformations needed

to facilitate true system support for those 1+ billion people that many

find contempt and objection. Apart from stubborn, temporal “value”

associations, where people essentially refuse to change anything they

have become used to in their lives, even if that change clearly

supports a better outcome in the long term, there is one argument so

common that it warrants a preliminary discussion in and of itself.

That is the argument of “human nature”. This argument might

also be said to be the only real objection left, if you think about it,

outside again of the near arbitrary cultural lifestyle practices people

are afraid to change due to their identity associations and conditioned

comforts. Are humans compatible with a truly sustainable, scientific

socioeconomic system or are we doomed to the world we have now

due to our genetics?

Everything is Technical

The case for a new social system based directly on a scientific view for

understanding and maximizing sustainability and prosperity,

technically, really cannot be contradicted by another approach, as bold

as such a statement may seem. Why? Because there simply isn't one

when the unifying, natural law logic of the scientific method is

accepted as the root mechanism of physical causality and

interrelationship.

For example, great surface variation (ornament) might exist

with the design of an airplane, but the mechanics which enable flight

have no relationship to physical efficiency at all.

93 The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food

Programme have confirmed this. This site is recommend for reference:

(http://overpopulationisamyth.com/food-theres-lots-it#header-1)

94 Source: 1.02 billion starving people worldwide, U.N. Says

(http://www.news-medical.net/news/20090623/102-billion-starving-people-

worldwide-UN-says.aspx)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

41

are bound by physical laws and hence so must the overall physical

design of the airplane in order to function properly. Constructing such

a machine to perform a job with the goal of optimized performance,

safety and efficiency is not a matter of opinion, just as no matter how

many ornaments we may place around our homes, the physical

structure of the building must adhere to the rigid laws of physics and

natural dynamics of the habitat for safety and endurance and hence

can have little respective variation in a technical sense.

The organization of human society can be no different if the

intention is integrity and optimization. To think of the functional nature

of a working society is to think about a mechanistic schematic, if you

will. Just as we would design an airplane to work in the best way

possible, technically, so should our approach be to the social system,

which is equally as technical in its needed functionality. Unfortunately,

this general perspective has never been given a real chance in history

and today our world is still run in an incongruous manner where the

principal incentive is more about detached, immediate, shortsighted

personal gain and differential advantage than it is about proper,

strategic industrial methods, ecological alignment, social stability,

public health considerations and generational sustainability.

This is all pointed out, again, because the “human nature”

argument against such an approach is really the only seemingly

technical argument that can possibly defend the old system we have

today; it is really the only argument left when people who wish to

uphold this system realize that nothing else they logically argue can

possibly be viable given the irrationality inherent to every other claim

against a natural law based social model.

Irrationally Bound?

Boiling it down, this challenge can be considered in one question:

“Is the human species able to adapt and thrive in a technically

organized system, where our values and practices align with the

known laws of nature in practice, or are we confined by our genes,

biology and evolutionary psychology to operate in only the way we

know today?”

While many today argue the specifics of the nature vs. nurture

debate - from “blank slate” behaviorism

95

to genetic determinism

96

- it

95 The notion of the “Blank Slate” was made popular by Thomas Hobbes but

can be linked back to the writings of Aristotle. This is the idea that, in short,

individuals are born without built-in mental orientation and everything is

learned. Now largely debunked as a broad view due to proven “programmed

learning” and humans' inherent “evolutionary psychology”, the idea still

persists in general.

96 The view that human beings are substantially more affected by Genes and

Biology than environmental conditioning with respect to human behavior is

still a heated debate, not to mention a frequent intuitive reaction by many

to certain human patterns. The phrase “it's just human nature” is all too

often tossed out by the layman. Authors such as Steven Pinker are notable

for promoting the dominance of evolutionary psychology over environmental

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

42

has become clear, at a minimum, that our biology, our psychology and

our sociological condition are inexorably linked to the environment we

inhabit, both from the standpoint of generational evolutionary

adaptation (biological evolution), to short-term biases and values we

absorb from our environment (cultural evolution).

So, before we go into detail on this issue, it is well worth

noting that our very definition as human beings in the long and short-

term view is based upon a process of adaptation to existing conditions,

including the genes themselves.

97

This is not to discount the per-case

genetic relevance itself but to highlight the process to which we are a

part, for the gene-environment relationship can only be considered as

an ongoing interaction, with the outcomes largely a result of the

environmental conditions in the long and short term. If this wasn't the

case, there is little doubt the human species would have likely

perished long ago due to a failure to adapt.

Moreover, while it is clear we humans still appear to maintain

“hardwired”, predictable reactions for raw, personal survival,

98

we

have also proven the ability to evolve our behaviors through thought,

awareness and education,

99

allowing us to, in fact, control/overcome

conditioning.

97 An “adaptation” in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life

history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of 'natural

selection'. In short, this occurs due to pressures existing on the organism in

the environment. Likewise, “epigenetics” is a fairly new awareness and

study of heritable changes in gene expression or cellular phenotype caused

by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence. In

short, it is a shorter-term “expression” adaptation influenced by the

environment as well. As far as culture, this is simpler to understand. For

instance, the language you speak is an adaptation to the existing cultural

group, just like the religion you might be taught and hence many of the

values you hold are directly a result of the cultural conditions you are

within.

98 The notion of an “instinctual reaction” could be applied here. However, the

differentiation of what is or isn't instinctual has become increasingly

ambiguous in the study of human behavior. Yet, it is clear in a fundamental

sense that there are very specific patterns in common regarding the human

species, especially in the context of survival and stress influence. Faced with

pressing danger, very common biological/endocrinological reactions occur

almost universally and these often generate behavioral propensities which

are also predictable consistently across the species as a whole.

99 The term “behavioral plasticity” can be applied here as an extension of

“neuroplasticity” which refers to active changes in neural pathways and

synapses. Just as the brain used to be considered a static organ, human

behavior – the expression of brain activity – clearly also undergoes change.

As complex a subject as “free-will” and decision processes are to the

psychological sciences, the nature of the human mind shows clear

adaptability and vulnerability to input conditions. Unlike our primate

ancestors, our advanced Neocortex appears to be a center for conscious

thought and in the words of Dr. Robert Sapolsky, Neuroscientist from

Stanford University: “On a certain level, the nature of our nature is not to

be particularly constrained by our nature.” (from 2011 film Zeitgeist:

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

43

those impulsive, primitive reactions, if the conditions for such are

supported and reinforced. This is an extremely important distinction

and is what separates the variance of human beings from their lesser-

evolved primate family in many ways.

100

A quick glance at the diversity in historical human conduct we

see throughout time, contrasted with the relatively slow pace of larger

structural changes of our brains and DNA

101

over the past couple of

thousand years, shows that our adaptive capacity

(via thought/education) is enormous on the cultural level. It appears

that we are capable of many possible behaviors and that a fixed

“human nature”, as an unalterable, universal set of behavioral

traits/reactions shared by all humans without exception cannot be held

as valid. Rather, there appears to be a spectrum of possible behaviors

and predictable reactions, all more or less contingent upon the type of

development, education, stimuli & conditions we experience.

The social imperative in this respect cannot be emphasized

enough for environmental influence is a massive factor that grooms

not only our decision-making preferences in both the long and short

term, but the overall environmental interaction with our biology in

general also has powerful effects on personal well-being and hence

broad public health in many specific ways.

It has been found that environmental conditions, including

factors such as nutritional input,

102

emotional security,

103

social

association,

104

and all forms of stress in general can influence the

Moving Forward, Peter Joseph)

100 Reference: Evolution of the neocortex: a perspective from developmental

biology, Nature Review, 2009

(http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v10/n10/abs/nrn2719.html)

101 DNA mutation rates vary from species to species and have historically been

very difficult to estimate. Today, with Direct Sequencing it is now possible

to isolate exact changes. In a study performed in 2009, two distant male-

line relatives - separated by thirteen generations - whose common ancestor

lived two hundred years ago, were sequenced, finding only 12 differences

among all the DNA letters examined. “The two Y chromosomes were still

identical at 10,149,073 of the 10,149,085 letters examined. Of the 12

differences...only four were true mutations that had occurred naturally

through the generations.”

(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827123210.htm) As far

as the human genome, it is estimated that the genome might undergo only

a few 100 changes over tens of thousands of years.

102 A classical example is the “Dutch Hunger Winter”. A study tracking people

who suffered severe malnutrition as fetuses during World War II found that

in their adult life they suffered from various metabolic syndromes and

metabolism problems due to the “programming” which occurred during that

In Utero period. Reference: Famine and Human development: The Dutch

hunger winter of 1944-1945. New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press.

103 Dr. Gabor Maté in his work “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts” (North Atlantic

Books, 2012) presents an enormous amount of research regarding how

'emotional loss' occurring at young ages affects behavior in later life,

specifically the propensity for addictions.

104 The relevance of the nature of social interaction is more profound than

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

44

human being in many more ways than previously thought. This

process begins in utero, through the sensitive post-natal and childhood

“planned learning” adaption periods,

105

and carries on throughout life

on all physiological and psychological levels.

For example, while there is evidence that depression as a

psychological disorder can have a genetic predisposition, it is the

environment that really triggers it or not.

106

Again, this is not to

downplay the influence of biology on our personalities but to show the

critical importance of understanding these realities and adapting our

social system and macro influences to support the most positive

outcome we can.

Changing The Condition

The idea of changing society's influences/pressures to bring out the

best of the human condition rather than the worst is at the core of the

social imperative of TZM and this idea is sadly lost in the culture's

social considerations today. Enormous evidence exists to support how

the influence of our environment is what essentially creates our values

and biases and while genetic and physiological influences can set

propensities and accentuations for certain behaviors, the most active

influence regarding our variability is the life experience and condition

of the human being, hence the manner of interaction between the

“internal” (physiological) and “external” (environmental).

In the end, the most relevant issue is stress. Our genes,

biology and evolutionary psychology might have some hang-ups, but

they are nothing compared to the environmental disorder we have

created in our culture. The enormity of now unnecessary stress in the

world today – debt, job insecurity, increasing health risks both mental

and physiological - and many other issues have created a climate of

unease that has been increasingly making people sick and upset. If we

were faced with an option to adapt our society in a way that could

provably better public health, increase social stability, generate

abundance and help sustainability, would we not just do it? To think

human beings are simply incompatible with methods that can increase

their standard of living and health is extremely unlikely.

So, in conclusion to this section, let it be stated that the

once thought. The correlation between different macro-societal factors and

public health issues such as life expectancy, mental disorder, obesity, heart

disease, violence and many other sociological issues were well summarized

in the book The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, Penguin,

March 2009.

105 A unique study of premature infants in incubators found that by simply

stimulating them during that time (or showing “affection” by simple touch)

their longer term physiological health was greatly improved compared to

those untouched. Reference: Tactile/kinesthetic stimulation effects on

preterm neonates, Pediatrics, 1986

106 Reference: The Structure of Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors for

Common Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders in Men and Women, Arch

Gen Psychiatry. 2003;60

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

45

subject of “human nature” is one of the most complex issues there is

when it comes to specifics. However, the broad and viable awareness

with respect to basic public health improvement via reducing stress,

increasing quality nutrition and stabilizing society by working toward

abundance and ease rather than strife and complexity – is not

susceptible to much debate.

We now have some refined truths about the human condition

that give enough evidence to see that we are not only generating poor

reactions and habits due to the influence of the current socioeconomic

order, we are also greatly disrespecting the habitat as well, creating

not only a lack of sustainability in an ecological sense, but, again, in a

cultural sense as well. Once again, to think humans are simply

incompatible with these resolutions, even if it means changing our

world greatly, defies the long history of adaptation we have proven to

be capable of.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

46

PART II: SOCIAL PATHOLOGY

-DEFINING PUBLIC HEALTH-

We are all responsible for all.

107

-Dostoyevsky

Overview

What is the true measure of success for a society? What is it that

makes us happy, healthy, stable and in balance with the world around

us? Is not our success really our ability to understand and adapt to the

realities of our world for the best outcome possible for any given

circumstance? What if we were to find that the very nature of our

social system was actually reducing our quality of life in the long term?

As will be argued in this essay, modern social structures,

values and practices have deviated away from, or are largely ignorant

of, what true societal health means. What our social institutions today

give priority to or discount by design, coupled with the goals and

motivations associated with personal “success”, which are all too often

clearly “decoupled” from what true life support and advancement

means,

108

is a subject given little thoughtful consideration in the world

today. In fact, most “prosperity” and “integrity” measures for the

human condition are now haphazardly equated to mere economic

baselines such as GDP, PPI or employment figures. Sadly, these

measures tell us virtually nothing about true human wellbeing and

prosperity.

109

The term public health is a medical classification, essentially

defined as: “the approach to medicine that is concerned with the

health of the community as a whole.”

110

While often narrowly used in

relationship to transmittable disease and broad social conditions, the

context here will extend into all aspects of our lives, including not only

physiological health but mental health as well. If the value of a social

system is measured by the health of its citizenry over time, assessing

and comparing conditions and consequences through simple trend

107 Source: Paraphrased, from Karamazov Brothers, Fyodor Dostoyevsky,

1880, p316

108 The point here relates to how modern society rewards and reinforces

certain behaviors over others. For instance, in the Western World more

financial reward comes to non-producing financial institutions than from true

good and service production. This has generated an incentive problem,

which also includes environmental disregard and the ignoring of public

health in general. As will be alluded to later in this text, the psychology of

the market economy actually opposes life support.

109 In recent years other attempts have been made to quantify “happiness”

and well-being, such as the Gross National Happiness Indicator (GNH) which

conducts measures via periodic surveys

(http://www.grossnationalhappiness.com/)

110 Public Health defined:

(http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=5120)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

47

analysis and factor accounting should give insight into what can be

changed or improved on the social level.

The central context here is how the social condition itself - the

socioeconomic system - is affecting human health on the whole. In the

words of physician Rudolph Virchow: “Medicine is a social science and

politics nothing but medicine on a large scale.”

111

Virchow recognized

that any public health issue is invariably related to society as a whole.

Its structure, characteristics and value reinforcements have a profound

influence on the health and behavior of a society and arguments

regarding the merit of new social ideas inevitably come down to a

rational assessment of quality through comparison.

Since each respective component of public health has its own

characteristics and causality, we can also work to consider alternative

approaches to a given problem resolution or improvement that might

not be currently in practice, but clearly should be. An analysis of

current public health components to understand what is happening

over time and in different circumstances, coupled with a per case

evaluation of each issue with an inferential consideration of what could

“fix” or “improve” these results on the largest possible scale, is the

basis of the train of thought expressed here.

It is the conviction of TZM that the existing social model is a

cause of “social pathology”, with a perpetuation of imbalance that is

unnecessarily generating both physiological and psychological

disorders across the population, not to mention systemically limiting

human potential and problem resolution in many ways. Of course, this

context also naturally extends into environmental health, meaning the

state of the planet, as such ecological problems/pressures/alleviations

always have an effect on our public health in the long-term. However,

that will not be a focus in this essay.

This analysis will separate the subject of public health into two

general categories - physiological and psychological

112

- with each

category broken into categorizes that represent dominant problems

seen in a relevant percentage of the overall population. However, let it

be well understood that physiological and psychological outcomes

rarely, if ever, have singular causes. There is a bio-psycho-social

113

111 Source: The Evolution of Social Medicine, Rudolph Virchow: Rosen G., from

the Handbook of Medical Sociology, Prentice-Hall, 1972

112 Sociological phenomena will be grouped in the Psychological category here

for the sake of simplicity, as the result of a sociological condition is the

aggregate psychological states of individuals.

113 Bio-Psycho-Social means the interaction of biological, psychological and

sociological influence on a given consequence. For example, Obesity, on the

surface, simply relates to eating. If a person eats too much, they gain

weight. However, there is a large degree of evidence now (as will be

presented later in this essay) that shows how a person's psychology can be

effected to crave the comfort of consuming due to external factors – such as

a deprived emotional history or poor bodily adaption where bad habits are

formed and expected. These latter notions, which influence one’s

psychology, are a result of the sociological condition.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

48

relationship to virtually all human phenomena, illuminating, once

again, the multi-level symbiosis characteristic of the human being. In

other words, while the problem being focused on might be considered

“physiological” on the surface, the underlying cause of that outcome

might very well be “psychological” or “sociological”, for example.

The Economic Factor

As noted, the main thesis of this essay is to show the deep effect our

global socioeconomic system has on public health, with a specific focus

on the power of poverty, stress and inequality. If one was to take a

quick glance at the major causes of death globally, as put forward by

the World Health Organization,

114

clear differences based on the

economic state of a region, such as the fact that cancers are more

common in high income societies while diarrhoeal diseases are more

common in low income societies, gives insight as to how the broad

context of socioeconomic position can affect public health.

Mahatma Gandhi once said “Poverty is the worst form of

violence.”

115

His context relates to the unnecessary deaths caused by

poverty in the sense of the broad limitations such severe financial

restrictions have on health. This idea was later encompassed in the

term structural violence,

116

defined by Dr. James Gilligan as “...the

increased rates of death and disability suffered by those who occupy

the bottom rungs of society.” He differentiates structural violence

from behavioral violence, where the former “operates continuously

rather than sporadically”.

117

Please note that the term “violence” in this context is not

limited to the usual classification of physical harm, such as person-to-

person combat or abuse. The context extends to include the often

unseen social oppression that, through the chain of causality

characteristics inherent to our social system, leads to the unnecessary

harm of people, both physical, psychological or both. Examples of this

can range from obvious to complex in the chain of cause and effect.

A simple “macro” example would be the prevalence of

diarrhoeal diseases in poverty-stricken societies. These diseases kill

about 1.5 million children each year.

118

It is completely preventable

and treatable and while the infection itself is spread through

contaminated food and drinking-water, or from person-to-person as a

result of poor hygiene, its very preventability and rarity in first world

114 Source: The top 10 causes of death, WHO, 2013

(http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/index.html)

115 Source: Quoted in A Just Peace through Transformation: Cultural,

Economic, and Political Foundations for Change, International Peace

Association, 1988

116 Reference: An Empirical Table of Structural Violence, Gernot Kohler and

Norman Alcock, 1976

http://jpr.sagepub.com/content/13/4/343.extract

117 Source: Violence, James Gilligan, Grosset/Putnam, New York, 1992, p.192

118 Source: Diarrhoeal disease, WHO, 2013

(http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs330/en/index.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

49

nations by comparison shows that the real cause is now not the

disease itself, but the poverty condition that enables it to flourish.

However, the causality doesn’t stop there. We then need to ask the

question: “what is causing the poverty?”

A more abstract “micro” example would be human

development problems when adverse pressures in family or

community structures occur. Imagine a single mother who, due to the

financial need to raise her child, must work for income a great deal in

order to make ends meet, limiting her availability for the child

personally. The pressures not only reduce needed support and

guidance for the child's development, she also develops tendencies for

depression and anxiety due to the ongoing stress of debt, bills and the

like, and frustration-driven abuse begins to materialize in the family.

This then causes severe emotional loss

119

in the child and the

development of neurotic and unhealthy mental states emerge, such as

a propensity for drug addiction.

120

Years later, still suffering from the

pain felt in those early periods, the now adult child dies in a heroin

overdose. Question: what caused the overdose? The heroin? The

mother's influence? Or the economic circumstance the mother found

herself which disallowed balance and thoughtful care of her child?

121

Clearly, there is no utopia for the human condition and to think

we can adjust the socioeconomic system to thwart all such

“structurally” related issues, macro and micro, 100% of the time, is

absurd. However, what is possible is a dramatic improvement of such

public health problems by shifting the nature of the socioeconomic

condition in the most strategic manner we can. As we proceed with the

per case analysis of major mental and physical disorders in the world,

it will be found that the true imperative for public health improvement

rests almost entirely on this socioeconomic premise of causality.

122

119 The term emotional loss relates to severe emotional trauma experienced,

mostly as a child, that persist in effect. In the words of Dr. Gabor Maté

“The greatest damage done by neglect, trauma or emotional loss is not the

immediate pain they inflict but the long-term distortions they induce in the

way a developing child will continue to interpret the world and her situation

in it.” In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts”, North Atlantic Books, 2012, p.512

120 As noted prior, the work of Gabor Maté is highly recommended on the

subject of addiction resulting from emotional loss in childhood and feelings

of insecurity. “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts”, North Atlantic Books, 2012

121 The work Mental Illness and the Economy, by M.H. Brenner is

recommended. Abstract: “By correlating extensive economic and

institutional data from New York State for the period from 1841 to 1967,

Harvey Brenner concludes that instabilities in the national economy are the

single most important source of fluctuations in mental-hospital admissions

or admission rates.”

122 A study for reference in the same basic context is The Effect of Known Risk

Factors on the Excess Mortality of Black Adults in the United States, Journal

of the American Medical Association, 263(6):845-850, 1990. This

epidemiological study found that two-thirds of African-American deaths

noted in context could only be accounted for due to low socioeconomic

status itself and its direct/indirect consequences.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

50

According to Gernot Kohler and Norman Alcock in their 1976

work An Empirical Table of Structural Violence, a dramatic 18 million

deaths were found to occur each year due to structural violence

123

and

that study was over 30 years ago. Since that time the global gap

between rich and poor has more than doubled, suggesting now that

the death toll is even much higher today. In effect, structural violence

is the most deadly killer on the planet. The following chart shows rates

of death of a specific demographic, revealing the more broad

correlation of low-income and increased mortality.

(Above) G. D. Smith, J. D. Neaton, D. Wentworth, R. Stamler and J. Stamler,

‘Socioeconomic differentials in mortality risk among men screened for the

Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial: I. White men’, American Journal of

Public Health (1996) 86 (4): 486-96.

Physiological Health

The core physiological problems of the human population today include

major mortality producing epidemics such as cancer, heart disease,

stroke, etc. Relatively minor problems that not only reduce quality of

life, but also often precede those major illnesses include high blood

pressure, obesity and other issues that, while less critical by

comparison, are still usually a part of the process that can lead to

major illnesses and death over time.

124

Again, it is important to remember that the causality of these

“physical” diseases is not strictly “physical” in the narrow sense of the

123 Source: An Empirical Table of Structural Violence, Gernot Kohler and

Norman Alcock, 1976

124 Reference: As obesity rates rise, chief heart surgeon sees more high-risk

patients in operating room, Caitlin Heaney, 2012 (http://thetimes-

tribune.com/lifestyles-people/as-obesity-rates-rise-chief-heart-surgeon-

sees-more-high-risk-patients-in-operating-room-1.1379223)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

51

word as modern study has found deep psychosocial

125

stress

relationships to seemingly detached physiological issues. According to

the World Health Organization, the most common shared major causes

of death in low, middle and high-income countries are heart disease,

lower respiratory infections, stroke and cancer.

126

While each of these

illnesses (and many more) can be found related to the causal points

that follow, for simplicities sake heart disease will be a focus here.

Case Study: Heart Disease

While the treatment of heart disease has led to a recent mild global

decline in heart attacks and deaths overall,

127

the diagnosis of heart

disease has not subsided and by some regional studies is on the

rise,

128

or on pace to increasing substantially.

129

Coronary heart

disease is still considered by the WHO as the “leading cause of death”

globally

130

and it has been found that while there are genetic factors in

play, 90% of those dying “have risk factors influenced by lifestyle”

131

and overall the disease is widely considered preventable if lifestyle

adjustments are made.

In short, well established relationships to high fat diets,

smoking, alcohol, obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and other risk

factors allow us to extend the causality of heart disease and when we

follow the influences, the most profound broad influence found has to

do not only with absolute income, but relative socioeconomic status.

The WHO makes it generally clear that on the global scale,

lower socioeconomic status breeds more heart disease and naturally

more of the risk factors that lead to it.

132

This, on one side, depicts a

direct economic relationship to the occurrence of disease. There is no

evidence to show that genetic differences between regional groups

could be responsible for these variations and it is obvious to see how a

lack of purchasing power leads people into lifestyles that include many

such risk factors.

125 Psychosocial defined: Involving aspects of both social and psychological

behavior; Interrelationship (http://medical-

dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/psychosocial)

126 The top ten causes of death, WHO, 2013

(http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/index.html)

127 U.S. Trends in Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke, Population Reference

Bureau,

(http://www.prb.org/Articles/2002/USTrendsinHeartDiseaseCancerandStrok

e.aspx)

128 Heart disease to rise 25% by 2020, Belfast Telegraph, 2012

(http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-

ireland/heart-disease-to-rise-25-by-2020-16177410.html)

129 New European Statistics Released On Heart Disease and Stroke, Science

Daily, 2012

(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120929140236.htm)

130 The Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke, WHO & CDC, Part 3, Global Burden

of Coronary Heart Disease

131 Ibid.

132 Ibid., Chapter 11, Socioeconomic Status

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

52

A 2009 study in the American Journal of Epidemiology called

“Life-Course Socioeconomic Position and Incidence of Coronary Heart

Disease” found that the longer a person remains in poverty, the more

likely he or she is to develop heart disease.

133

People who were

economically disadvantaged throughout life were more likely to smoke,

be obese, and have poor diets and the like. In an earlier study by

epidemiologist Dr. Ralph R. Frerichs, focusing specifically on the

socioeconomic divide in the city of Los Angeles, CA, found that the

death rate from heart disease was 40 percent higher for poor men

over all than for wealthier ones.

134

Given our original thesis to consider a link from the social

system itself to the prevalence of disease and their associated risk

factors, we need to consider the direct relationship of stress &

purchasing power. Beginning with the latter, which is more simple,

clearly poor health habits occur in lower income environments due to

the lack of funds for better nutrition,

135

medical attention

136

and

education.

137

For example, many of the high fat, high sodium risk

factor foods leading to heart disease tend to be the most inexpensive

food found in stores.

It is worth noting that our socioeconomic model produces

goods based upon the purchasing power of targeted demographics.

The decision to produce poor quality food goods is made for the

interest of profit and since the vast majority of the planet is relatively

poor, it is no surprise that in order to meet that market, quality must

be reduced to allow for competitive buying.

In other words, there is a market for each social class and

naturally the lower the class, the lower the quality. This reality is an

example of a direct social system link to causality for heart disease.

While education about the difference between quality food products

could help the decision process of a poor person to eat better, the

financial restrictions inherent to their condition could easily make that

133 Life-Course Socioeconomic Position and Incidence of Coronary Heart

Disease, American Journal of Epidemiology, April 1, 2009.

(http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2009/01/29/aje.kwn403)

134 Heart Disease Tied to Poverty, New York Times, 1985

(http://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/24/us/heart-disease-tied-to-

poverty.html)

135 Quote from the study Can Low-Income Americans Afford a Healthy Diet?:

“Many nutritional professionals believe that all Americans, regardless of

income, have access to a nutritious diet of whole grains, lean meats, and

fresh vegetables and fruit. In reality, food prices pose a significant barrier

for many consumers who are trying to balance good nutrition with

affordability.” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2847733/)

136 Reference: Medical costs push millions of people into poverty across the

globe, WHO

(http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr65/en/index.html)

137 Reference: Education Gap Grows Between Rich and Poor, Studies Say, New

York Times, 2012

(http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/education/education-gap-grows-

between-rich-and-poor-studies-show.html?pagewanted=all)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

53

decision difficult if not impossible as, again, such goods are more

expensive on average.

In an age where food production and human nutrition is a well

understood scientific phenomenon as far as what works and what

doesn’t - what is healthy and what isn't on the whole - we have to

wonder why the abundance of deliberately unhealthy foods and

detrimental industrial methods exist at all. The reasoning is that

human health is not the pursuit of industrial food production and never

has been due to the isolated interest to generate income. More on this

incentive disorder inherent to the market economy in later essays.

The Stress Factor

Let's now consider the role of stress. Stress has more of an effect on

heart disease than previously thought and this isn't just referring to

the statistical fact that lower income peoples tend to have a propensity

to cope by smoking and/or drinking, manifesting high blood pressure

and hence disregard their bodies and well-being due to the ongoing

struggle for income and survival. While those factors are clearly

evident and, again, found tied to the inevitable stratification found in

the market economy,

138

the most detrimental form of stress comes in

the form of psychosocial stress, meaning stress related to one's

psychological connection with the social environment.

Professor Michael Marmot of the Department of Epidemiology

and Public Health at the University College of London directed two

important studies relating social status to health.

139

Using the British

civil service system as the subject group, they found that the gradient

of health quality in industrialized societies is not simply just a matter

of poor health for the financially disadvantaged and good health for

everyone else. They found that there was also a social distribution of

disease as you went from the top of the socioeconomic ladder, to the

bottom and the types of diseases people would get would change on

average.

For example the lowest rungs of the hierarchy had a fourfold

increase of heart disease based mortality, compared to the highest

rungs. Even in a country with universal health care, the worse a

138 Class stratification is an immutable part of the current socioeconomic model

due to both the incentive system generated that disproportionately

distributes income, strategically favoring the upper tiers of the hierarchy –

such as in 2007, Chief executives of the largest 365 US companies received

well over 500 times the pay of the average employee. This can be coupled

with practices of macroeconomic monetary policy that structurally reward

the wealthy and punish the poor through the interest system. (The wealthy

gain interest income off investment while the poor, lacking investment

capital, take loans for the majority of large purchases, paying interest. Put

in abstraction, the poor are forced to give the rich their money through this

mechanism.)

139 Whitehall Study I & II, (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/whitehallII/) Also see:

Epidemiology of socioeconomic status and health, M. Marmot

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10681885)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

54

person's financial status and position in the hierarchy, the worse their

health is going to be on average. The reason is essentially

psychological as it has been found that the more stratified a given

society, the worse public health is in general, specifically for the lower

classes.

140

This pattern has been corroborated by many other studies over

the years, including a deep collection of research organized by Richard

Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. In their work, The Spirit Level – Why

Equality is Better for Everyone, they source hundreds of

epidemiological studies on the issue, outlining how more unequal

societies perpetuate a vast array of public health problems, both

physiological and psychological.

Heart disease aside, some cancers, chronic lung disease,

gastrointestinal disease, back pain, obesity, high blood pressure, low

life expectancy and many other problems are also now found to be

linked to socioeconomic status in the broad view, not just singular risk

factors.

141

There is a social gradient in health quality across society

and where we are placed in relation to other people has a powerful

psychosocial effect. Those above us have better health on average

while those below us have worse health on average.

142

In fact, a statistical comparison of public health between

countries with high levels of income inequality (such as the United

States) and those with lower levels of income inequality (such as

Japan) reveals these truths quite obviously.

143

However, such

generally deemed “physical” illnesses are only part of the public health

crisis generated by inequality that, again, is yet a consequence unto

itself originating out of the direct, immutable stratification inherent to

our global social system.

Psychological Health

Perhaps more profound in its public health implication is the result of

social inequality on our mental or psychological health. This extends

into behavioral reactions and tendencies such as acts of violence or

abuse, along with emotional issues like depression, anxiety and

personality disorders.

A general trend assessment of depression and anxiety in

developed countries, countries that many intuitively would think would

have more joy and ease due to the material wealth available, reveals a

140 Ibid.

141 A qualifier here to note is that this phenomenon relates more so to

relatively wealthy societies in general than it does to inherently poverty

stricken societies.

142 Reference: Social Determinants of Health: The Solid Facts, R.G. Wilkinson

& M. Marmot, World Health Organization, 2006

143 A summary PDF of regression line charts extracted from the work of R.

Wilkinson and K. Pickett can be found here for reference:

http://www.tantor.com/Extras/B0505_SpiritLevel/B0505_SpiritLevel_PDF_1

.pdf

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

55

much different reality.

144

145

A British study examining depression

among people in their 20s found that it was twice as common in 1970

than it was in 1958.

146

An American study of about 63,700 college

students found that five times as many young adults are dealing with

higher levels of anxiety than in the late 1930s.

147

A 2011 study

presented at the American Psychological Association showed that

mental illness was more common among college students than it was a

decade ago.

148

Psychologist Jean Twenge of San Diego University located 269

related studies measuring anxiety in the United States sourced

between 1952 and 1993 and the aggregate assessment shows a

dramatically clear trend in the rise of anxiety over this period, with, for

example, the conclusion that by the late 1980s the average American

child was more anxious than child psychiatric patients in the 1950s.

149

A 2011 NCHS report revealed that the rate of antidepressant

use in America among teens and adults (people ages 12 and older)

increased by almost 400% between 1988–1994 and 2005–2008.

Antidepressants were the third most common prescription medication

taken by Americans in 2005–2008.

150

While a genetic component for depression may have relevance,

the trend rate clearly shows an environmental causality as the driving

force. In the words of Richard Wilkinson: “[A]lthough people with

mental illness sometimes have changes in the levels of certain

chemicals in the brain, nobody has shown that these are causes of

depression, rather than changes caused by depression...although

some genetic vulnerability may underlie some mental illness, this can't

by itself explain the huge rises in illness in recent decades - our genes

can not change that fast.“

151

144 Reference: The Dramatic Rise of Anxiety and Depression in Children and

Adolescents, Peter Gray, 2012

(http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201001/the-

dramatic-rise-anxiety-and-depression-in-children-and-adolescents-is-it)

145 Anxiety Disorders Are Sharply on the Rise, Timi Gustafson R.D

(http://timigustafson.com/2011/anxiety-disorders-are-sharply-on-the-rise/)

146 Time Trends in child and adolescent mental health, Maughan, Collishaw,

Goodman & Pickles, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2004

147 Sourcing the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, this article is a

recommend summation:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39335628/ns/health-mental_health/t/why-

are-anxiety-disorders-among-women-rise/#.UI9PRoUpzZg

148 Depression On The Rise In College Students, NPR, 2011

(http://www.npr.org/2011/01/17/132934543/depression-on-the-rise-in-

college-students)

149 The age of anxiety? Birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, J.M.

Twenge, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2007

150 Antidepressant Use in Persons Aged 12 and Over: United States, 2005–

2008, Laura A. Pratt, NCHS, Oct 2011

(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db76.htm)

151 The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, Penguin, March

2009, p.65

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

56

It appears our relative social status has a profound effect on

our mental wellbeing and this tendency can also be found in what

could be declared as the evolutionary psychology of similar primates

as well. A 2002 study performed with macaque monkeys found that

those who were subordinate/lower in a given social hierarchy had less

dopamine activity than the dominant ones and this relationship would

change as different sets were regrouped. In other words, it had

nothing to do with their specific biology – only the social arrangement

that reduced or elevated their dopamine levels. It also found that

lower hierarchy monkeys would use more cocaine to compensate. This

is revealing as low dopamine levels in primates (including humans) are

found to have a direct correlation to depression.

152

The pattern has become very clear and while direct stressors

such as job security, debt and other largely economic factors inherent

to the social system may play a major role,

153

the relevance of

socioeconomic status itself is still dominant. The following chart is a

comparison of overall mental health and drug use by country.

154

It

includes nine countries, sourcing data from WHO surveys, including

anxiety disorders, mood disorders, impulsive disorders, addictions and

others. One can clearly see that the United States, which also has the

highest level of inequality, has an enormous level of mental health and

drug disorders as well in comparison to the less stratified countries,

with Italy being the lowest in mental health disorders of the group.

152 Social dominance in monkeys: dopamine D2 receptors and cocaine self-

administration, Morgan & Grant, Nature Neuroscience, 2002 5(2): p.169-74

153 Suicide rates rocket in wake of economic downturn recession, Nina Lakhani,

The Independent, Aug 15 2012

154 Chart from The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, Penguin,

March 2009, p.67

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

57

Even perceived social status, such as the caste relationships

found in countries like India, can have a profound effect on confidence

and behavior. A study performed in 2004 compared the problem-

solving abilities of 321 high caste Indian boys against those of 321 low

caste Indian boys. The results demonstrated that when caste was not

publicly announced before the problem solving began, both sets of

boys achieved similar results. The second round, before which the

caste of each group was publicly announced, the lower caste group

fared much worse, and the higher caste much better, producing very

divergent data compared with the first round.

155

People are greatly

influenced by their perceived status in their society and often when we

expect to be viewed as inferior, very often we perform as such.

In conclusion to this subsection regarding the psychosocial,

inequality-based phenomenon that shows a clear relationship to

psychological wellbeing, it is important to quickly make clear the vast

range of issues found related. When it comes to education, social

capital (trust), obesity, life expectancy, teen birth, imprisonment and

punishment, social mobility, opportunity, and even innovation –

countries with less income inequality do better than those with more

income inequality. Put another way, they are more healthy

societies.

156

155 Belief Systems and Durable Inequalities, Policy Research Working Paper,

Waskington DC: World Bank, 2004 | Chart from The Spirit Level by Richard

Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, Penguin, March 2009, p.113-114

156 Source: The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, Penguin,

March 2009

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

58

Case Study: Behavioral Violence

Coupled with the above issues relating to inequality in society, there is

one that deserves a deeper look: behavioral violence. Criminal

psychologist Dr. James Gilligan, former head of the Center for the

Study of Violence at Harvard Medical School, wrote a definitive

treatment on the subject in his work Violence: Our Deadly Epidemic

and its Causes. Dr. Gilligan makes it very clear that extreme forms of

violence are not random or genetically induced, but rather complex

reactions that originate from stressful experiences, both in the long

and short term.

For example, child abuse, both physical and emotional, along

with increasingly difficult levels of personal stress, have a direct

correlation to both premeditated and impulsive acts of violence and

while men have a statistically higher propensity towards violence due

to largely endocrinological characteristics that, while not causing

violent reactions, can exaggerate them upon the stress influence,

157

the common theme is the influence of the environment and culture.

This is not to discount the relationship of hormones or even

possibly genetic propensities,

158

but to show that at the origin of this

behavior is clearly not our biology, but the condition upon which a

human exists and the experiences endured. Other common

assumptions of causality, such as “instinct” are also far too abstract

and vague to hold any operational validity.

159

Dr. Gilligan states: “I am suggesting that the only way to

explain the causes of violence, so that we can learn how to prevent it,

is to approach violence as a problem in public health and preventive

medicine, and to think of violence as a symptom of life-threatening

pathology, which, like all form of illness, has an etiology or cause, a

pathogen.”

160

In Dr. Gilligan's diagnosis he makes it very clear that the

greatest cause of violent behavior is social inequality, highlighting the

influence of shame and humiliation as an emotional characteristic of

157 The hormone testosterone has been commonly “blamed” for male

aggression. However it has been found that inter-individual differences in

levels of testosterone do not result in proportional differences in levels of

aggressive behavior when tests on the general population were conducted.

It has been found that rather than testosterone causing aggression levels to

rise, it is essentially the other way around. See The Trouble with

Testosterone, Robert M. Sapolsky, Simon & Schuster, 1997, p.147-159

158 Reference: Violence—A noxious cocktail of genes and the environment,

Mariya Moosajee, J R Soc Med. 2003 May; 96(5): 211–214 | Notes a study

in New Zealand where an apparent genetic link found to violent behavior

would only manifest if a great deal of abuse in childhood took place to

trigger an expression of that apparent genetic propensity.

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539471/)

159 Reference: Violence, James Gilligan, Grosset/Putnam, New York, 1992,

p.210-213

160 Ibid, p.92

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

59

those who engage in violence.

161

Thomas Scheff, a emeritus professor

of sociology in California stated that “shame was the social

emotion”.

162

Shame and humiliation can be equated with the feelings

of stupidity, inadequacy, embarrassment, foolishness, feeling exposed,

insecurity and the like – all largely social or comparative in their origin.

Needless to say, in a global society with not only growing

income disparity but inevitably “self-worth” disparity - since status is

touted as directly related to our “success” in our jobs, bank account

levels and the like - it is no mystery that feelings of inferiority, shame

and humiliation are staples of the culture today. The consequence of

those feelings have very serious implications for public health, as

noted before, including the epidemic of the behavioral violence we now

see today in its various complex forms. Terrorism, local school and

church shootings, along with other extreme acts that simply did not

exist before in the abstractions they find context today, reveals a

unique evolution of violence itself. Dr. Gilligan concludes: “If we wish

to prevent violence, then, our agenda is political and economic

reform.”

163

The following chart shows rates of homicide across wealthy

nations with varying states of social inequality. The United States,

which is likely the largest “anti-socialist” advocate with little structural

safeguards in place (such as a lack of universal health care), while also

pushing the psychological ethic that “independence” and “competition”

are the most important ethos - shows a massive level of violence.

While debates over gun control and the like still persist in the

American political landscape with respect to the epidemic, clearly that

has nothing really to do with causality.

161 Ibid, Chapter 5

162 Source: Shame and conformity: the defense-emotion system, T.J. Scheff,

American Sociological Review, 1988, 53:395-406

163 Source: Violence, James Gilligan, Grosset/Putnam, New York, 1992, p.236

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

60

In Conclusion

This essay has attempted to give a concise overview of core causal

relationships to human health on both the psychological level and the

physiological level. The theme is how the socioeconomic condition in

general improves or worsens public health overall, alluding to ideal

conditions which would improve happiness, reduce general disease and

alleviate epidemic behavioral problems, such as violence.

While direct economic relationships are very clear in how they

reduce human health and wellbeing in the form of absolute

deprivation, such as an inability to obtain quality food, labor-related

time restraints that reduce emotional and developmental support for

children, loss of education quality due to regional funding problems,

along with case by case turmoil such as the fact that most marriages

end due to monetary problems,

164

the relative deprivation issue has

been more of a focus here due to the fact that it is less understood

and more relevant than most understand.

Put into the structural, socioeconomic context, these realities

firmly challenges the ethos that competition, class and other

“capitalist” notions of incentive and progress are drivers of social

progress and health. The more we learn about this phenomenon, the

stronger the argument becomes that the nature of our socioeconomic

system is somewhat backwards in its focus and intent. Human

progress, health and success are clearly not defined by the constant

influx of market goods, gadgets and material creations for purchase.

Public health and wellbeing are based on how we relate to each other

and the environment as a whole and market induced stratification is

extremely caustic to society.

The result is a hidden form of violence against the population

and hence the public health issues we see are really civil & human

rights issues, since they simply do not need to exist. When we see

clear genocide in the world we object strongly on purely moral

grounds. But what if there existed a constant genocide that is unseen

but very real, perpetuated not by a specific person or group but by

disorder born out of stress/effects generated by the traditional method

of human interaction and economic ordering that has been created and

codified?

As will be argued in the following essays, mere adjustments to

the current socioeconomic system are not enough in the long-term to

substantially resolve these problems. The very foundational principles

of our current model are bound by hierarchical economic and

competitive orientations and to truly work to remove those attributes

and consequences is to completely transform the entire social system.

164 Reference: Money Fights Predict Divorce Rates, Catherine Rampell

(http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/money-fights-predict-

divorce-rates/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

61

-HISTORY OF ECONOMY-

It is a telling symptom of our condition that no established school, discipline

or general theory of social analysis has grounded itself in life requirements...

Instead, some social construct is invariably adopted as the ultimate reference

body- set of ideas, the state, the market, a class, technological development,

or some other factor than the

life-ground itself.

165

-John McMurtry

Overview

Economics is likely the most critical, relevant and influential societal

characteristic there is. Virtually every aspect of our lives, often without

conscious recognition, has a relationship to the historical development

and present practice of economic thought on one level or another,

molding our most basic social institutions, core beliefs and values. In

fact, the very essence of how we as a society think about our

relationship to each other and the habitat that supports us is, in large

part, a direct result of the economic theories and practices we

perpetuate.

Thoughtful review of historical religious & moral philosophies,

governmental development, political parties, legal statutes and other

social contracts and beliefs that comprise a given social system and its

culture, reveal the deep impact economic assumptions have and

continue to have in shaping of the “zeitgeist” of a time.

Slavery, classism, xenophobia, racism, sexism, subjugation

and many other divisive & exploitative notions still common to human

cultural history will be found to have kernels of origin or perpetuation

in many generally accepted economic philosophies to one degree or

another. History is fairly clear with respect to how the social condition

is groomed by the prevailing economic assumptions of a given period

and this broad sociological consideration is sadly not given much

gravity in the world today when thinking about why the world is the

way it is and why we think the way we do.

As a preliminary point, a point which will reemerge later in this

essay, there has commonly been a duality noted in most modern

economic thought where the “capitalist free market”, meaning the

“free” actions of independent producers, laborer and traders, working

in aggregate to buy, sell and employ,

166

is to be contrasted to that of

the “state”, meaning a unified system of delegated power that has the

capacity to set legal policy and economic mandates that can inhibit the

actions of the “free market” through interference. Most economic

debates today revolved around this duality on one level or another

165 Source: The Cancer Stage of Capitalism, John McMurtry, Pluto Press, 1999,

p.viii

166 A less generalized definition of the “free-market” is as follows: “An

economic system in which prices and wages are determined by unrestricted

competition between businesses, without government regulation or fear of

monopolies.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/free+market)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

62

with the “laissez-faire” interests, or those who wish to have a

completely non-regulated market economy, constantly at war with the

“statists”, or those who think some kind of centralized government

control and decision making over economic planning and policy is best.

The Zeitgeist Movement takes neither side, even though many

who hear TZM's proposals have a knee-jerk reaction to assume the

latter association (“statism”).

167

As with many traditionalized belief

systems, polarized perspectives and defenses are common and the

idea that there is no other possible frame of reference with respect to

how an economic system can be developed and administered, is to

close oneself off dogmatically to many relevant and emerging

considerations.

The following, brief treatment is about the historical

development of economics. We will trace the general history of

economic thought from roughly the 17

th

century onward, highlighting

the core influences that gave birth to the modern, “free market

capitalist” system. However, as will be expanded upon more so in part

III, a different perspective will also be alluded to. We will call this the

“mechanistic” view. The mechanistic perspective of economic factoring

takes a different look at the causal, scientific realities of human

existence and our habitat and builds a model of economic theory from

the standpoint of strategic reason, not historical tradition.

The bottom line is that modern economic thought is really not

modern at all and the vast majority of assumptions still held as 'given',

such as “property”, “money”, “classism”, theories of “value”, “capital”

and other concepts that run through virtually all contextually relevant

historical arguments, are really outdated in their underlying premises.

Rapid development in the industrial, informational and human

sciences, which have gone largely ignored by the established economic

tradition, are posing critical reconsiderations and new relationships

which simply do not exist in the traditional models.

168

With respect to the ever mutating “schools” of thought that

have brought the economic debate to where it rests today, the

academic, often formulaic traditionalized evolution of established

economic theory (and practice) appears to have developed a self-

167 As will be described in later essays, TZM's often false categorization of

being “statist” is rooted in its general opposition to market principles, which

it finds to be unsustainable and often counterproductive. “Statism”, which

can take many forms, such as communist, fascist or socialist, advocates a

“central authority” to decide how the economic/political process is to unfold,

with little to no relevant influence occurring via the general population. TZM

supports an open decision making process in general, under the imposition

of basic, proven laws of scientific sustainability and efficiency.

168 The notion of an “externality”, which will be noted later in this essay, is a

case in point. Most environmental and social costs systemic to the market

approach, along with arguably the loss of efficiency and hence prosperity,

are dismissed in the theoretical equation of the market, among many other

relevant issues.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

63

referring frame of reference.

169

In other words, the most common “mainstream” economic

considerations discussed/accepted today; those most propagated in

the prestigious academic schools and governmental conferences, will

be found to derive their importance from the mere fact that they have

been considered important for so long. As a metaphor, it is similar to

viewing the engine of an automobile and assuming the overall

structure of that engine is immutable and only variation among

existing component parts is possible, as opposed to the radical idea of

redesigning the entire engine structure from the ground up, perhaps

based upon new technology and information that serves the utility

more efficiently and successfully.

“Modern” economic thought and practice is an old engine with

generations of imminent “experts” working to administer old

components parts, refusing to accept the possibility that the entire

engine is outdated and perhaps increasingly detrimental. They

continue to publish arguments, theories and equations that reinforce

the false importance of that old engine (old “frame of reference”),

ignoring new advents in science, technology and public health that

contradict their traditionalism. It is no different than the long history of

other “established” ideas, such as abject human slavery, where the

society at large really didn't question the practice, and considered such

established structures, imposed and codified, as “natural” to the

human condition.

170

Underlying Themes

Taking an historical perspective, Europe of the Middle Ages

171

is

generally a decent ideological starting point as the most central ideas

characteristic of modern capitalism, which later spread across the

world, appear to have taken hold during this period.

172

It is from the

169 Economic philosopher John McMurtry stated generally on this issue: “This

tendency prevails from the Continental Rationalists on. Leibniz, Spinoza,

Descartes, Berkeley, Kant and Hegel, for example, more or less entirely

presupposed the social regime of their day and its constituent forms as in

some way the expression of the divine Mind, which they see it as their

rational duty only to accept or to justify.” The Cancer Stage of Capitalism,

Pluto Press, 1999, p.7

170 Aristotle (384 BC– 322 BC), while credited with extensive scientific, logical

and philosophical contribution, was also in favor of slavery, justifying the

reality with what could be argued as bias, not reason. He stated: “But is

there any one thus intended by nature to be a slave, and for whom such a

condition is expedient and right, or rather is not all slavery a violation of

nature? There is no difficulty in answering this question, on grounds both of

reason and of fact. For that some should rule and others be ruled is a thing

not only necessary, but expedient; from the hour of their birth, some are

marked out for subjection, others for rule.” Politics, Book I, Chapters III

through VII

171 The term “Middle Ages” generally refers to the period of European history

that lasted from the 5th until the 15th centuries.

172 For a detailed study of the medieval economic system and society, the

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

64

17

th

century onward that we find most of the influential philosophers

highly regarded today in traditional history books of economics. While

historians have found that the basic gestures of “property” and the act

of “trading for profit” go back to the second millennium BC,

173

its core

developmental foundation and institutionalization appears to rests

around the late feudal/early mercantilist periods.

Rather than discuss the various differences between the

socioeconomic systems that preceded modern capitalism, it is more

worthwhile to note the general similarities. In this broad context, the

capitalist system appears to be a manifest evolution of what are

mostly deeply ingrained historical assumptions of human nature and

human social relations.

174

Firstly, it will be noticed throughout this evolution that a class

divide has been recognized and employed to one degree or another.

People have generally been divided into two groups

175

- those that

produce for minimal reward and those who gain from that production.

From ancient Egyptian slavery,

176

to the peasant farmer toiling in

subsistence for his lord in medieval feudalism,

177

to the codified

oppression of the market merchants by the state monopolies of

mercantilism,

178

the theme of inequality has been very clear and

consistent.

A second feature held in common to these dominant Western

socioeconomic philosophies is that of a basic disregard (or perhaps

ignorance) of critical relationships between the human species and its

governing, supportive habitat. While certain exceptions can be found

with indigenous tribes such as with pre-colonial, Native American

societies,

179

Western economic thought has been almost devoid of

following work is suggested: The Agrarian Life of the Middle Ages, J.H.

Chapman and Eileen E. Powers, eds., 2d ed., The Cambridge Economic

History of Europe, vol. 1 London, Cambridge University Press, 1966

173 Reference: Macroeconomics from the beginning: The General Theory,

Ancient Markets, and the Rate of Interest, David Warburton Paris,

Recherches et Publications, 2003 p.49

174 The “Emergent” consideration of economic development appears to be a

relatively new concept, introduced most popularly by Thorstein Veblen in

the early 20

th

century. Suggested reading on the subject of economic

evolution: The Evolution of Institutional Economics: Agency, Structure and

Darwinism in American Institutionalism, Geoffrey M. Hodgson, London,

Routledge, 2004

175 The distinction of “classes” in specific categories is without exact meaning,

historically. The point here is the ongoing presence of a clearly dominant

class, whether that of ancient nobility, for example, or the modern financial

oligarchy.

176 Reference: The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery, Junius P.

Rodriguez, Vol I, Section E

177 Reference: Mediaeval Feudalism, Carl Stephenson, Cornell University

Press, 1956

178 Reference: A History of Economic Theory and Method, Robert B. Ekelund;

Robert F. Hébert, New York: McGraw–Hill, 1975

179 Reference: Defending Mother Earth: Native American Perspectives on

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

65

such considerations, absent the more recent and mounting ecological

problems which have forced some public/government response and a

very general interest in “reform”.

180

A third and final broad feature to note is the general dismissal

of the social recognition of a person's wellbeing on the level of human

need and hence public health. Advancements in the human sciences,

which occurred largely after the core doctrines of economic thought

were traditionally codified, have found that human wants and human

needs

181

are not the same and the deprivation of the latter can create

many negative consequences not only for the individual but for the

society itself. Anti-social, “criminal” and violent behavior, for example,

have been found sourced to many forms of social deprivation rooted in

the socioeconomic tradition.

182

Put more generally, the system ignores

such social consequences by design, relegating these outcomes as

mere “externalities” in most cases.

This reality was further compounded in the 18

th

century where

the “socially Darwinistic”

183

undertone of the “labor-for-reward”

premise increasingly reduced the human being to an object that was to

be defined and qualified by his or her contribution to the system of

labor. If the average person is unable to obtain labor or engage

successfully in the market economy, there exists no real safeguard

with respect to one's survival or wellbeing, except for “interference”

coming from the “state” in the form of “welfare”. In the modern day,

this reality is of great controversy where the claim of “socialism” has

become a knee-jerk condemnation reaction whenever governmental

policy attempts to provide direct support for a citizenry without full use

of the market mechanism.

Dawn of Market Capitalism

Medieval Feudalism (roughly from the 9

th

to 16th centuries) was the

dominant socioeconomic system that essentially preceded “free market

capitalism” in Western Europe, with what was later to be called

Environmental Justice, Jace Weaver, Orbis Books, 1996

180 To list the ecological problems now facing humanity, from climate

destabilization, to pollution, to resource depletion, to loss of biodiversity and

other invariably public health threats, would be too extensive to detail here.

In the view of TZM, these issues are largely a result of the Capitalist

premise and its accepted approaches and values .

181 Consumption patterns in modern society have shown an arbitrary nature

with respect to “Human Wants”, such as the powerful shift in values which

occurred in the early 20

th

century with the application of modern Western

advertising. “Human Needs”, however, are basic necessities, largely shared

by all humans, which maintain physical and psychological health.

182 See the essay Defining Public Health.

183 “Social Darwinism” is a very general ideology that seeks to apply biological

concepts of Darwinism or of “survival of the fittest” type theory to sociology

and politics. Historian Richard Hofstadter popularized the term in the United

States in 1944. The intuition of this concept, however, appears long before

Darwin's time in philosophical thought.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

66

“mercantilism” serving as what could be considered a transition stage.

Feudalism was based on a system of mutual obligations and

services going up and down a set social hierarchy, with the entire

social system resting essentially on an agricultural foundation.

Medieval society was mostly an agrarian society and the social

hierarchy was based essentially on peoples’ ties to land. The basic

economic institutions were the “guilds” and if someone wanted to

produce or sell a good or service, they would generally join a guild. A

great deal could be stated in detail about this extensive period of

history and as with most history it is subject to various interpretations

and debate. However, for the sake of this essay, we will only present a

very general overview with respect to the economic transition to

market capitalism.

184

As agricultural and transport technology improved, the

expansion of trade occurred and by the 13

th

century, with the advent

of the four-wheeled wagon, for example, the range of market

interaction rapidly increased. Likewise, increased labor specialization,

urban concentrations and population growth also occurred.

185

These

changes, coupled with the resulting, increasing power of the “merchant

capitalists”, as they could be called, slowly weakened the traditional,

customary ties that held the feudal social structure together.

Over time, more complex cities began to emerge which were

successful in obtaining independence from the feudal lords and

increasingly complex systems of exchange, credit and law began to

emerge, many of which are found to mirror many basic aspects of

modern capitalism. In the customary feudal system, generally the

“handicraft” producer was also the seller to the buyer of use. However,

as the evolution of the market continued around these new urban

centers, the craftsman began to sell at a discount in mass to non-

producing merchants who would resell in distant markets for a “profit”-

another feature later to be held common to market capitalism.

By the 16

th

century, the “handicraft” industry common to

feudalism had been transformed into a crude mirror of what we know

today, with the outsourcing of labor, singular ownership of production,

along with many finding themselves more and more in the position of

being “employed” rather than producing themselves. Eventually, the

logic surrounding monetary profit began to be the core, deciding factor

of overall action in a systemic way and the true seeds of capitalism

took root.

186

Mercantilism, which essentially dominated Western European

economic policy from the 16th to the late 18th centuries,

187

was

184 Reference: Mediaeval Feudalism, Carl Stephenson, Cornell University Press,

1956

185 Reference: The Economy of Early Renaissance Europe, 1300–1460, Harry

A. Miskimin, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969, p.20

186 Reference: Studies in the Development of Capitalism, Maurice H. Dobb,

London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1946, Chapter 4

187 Reference: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, David R. Henderson,

Liberty Fund, Inc, 2002, “Mercantilism”

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

67

characterized by state-driven trade monopolies to ensure a positive

“balance of trade”,

188

coupled with many other extensive regulations

for production, wages and commerce emerging over time, further

increasing the power of the state. Collusion between the state and

these emerging industries were common and many wars occurred due

to these practices since it was based on trade restrictions between

nations that often took the effect of economic warfare.

189

Adam Smith, who will be discussed later in this essay, wrote

an extensive criticism of mercantilism in his classic 1776 text, An

Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.

190

It is

here where it could be declared that the ideological birth of “free

market” capitalism really took root in theory, with the rejection of

what is often called “state” capitalism in modern terms, where the

state “interferes” with the “freedom” of the market - a defining feature

of mercantilism.

191

Today, “capitalism”, as a singular term, is generally defined

culturally in the theoretical context of “free market” not “state”

capitalism, although many will argue in great detail as to which type of

system we really have today, among other variations of the term. In

reality, there is no pure “free market” or “state” based system in

existence but a complex fusion between the two, generally speaking.

Again, as noted at the beginning of this essay, the vast majority of

economic debates and blame regarding economic unfolding often

revolve around these polarized ideas.

192

Capitalism Defined

Capitalism

193

as we know it in specifics today, including not only its

economic theory but powerful political and social effects, emerged in

form, as noted, rather slowly over a period of several centuries. It

188 A positive balance of trade is also known as a “trade surplus” and it

consists of exporting more than is imported in monetary value. This act by

the State is often called “Protectionism” today.

189 Reference: The Growth of Economic Thought, Henry William Spiegel, Duke

University Press, 3

rd

Ed, 1991, pp.93-118.

190 Reference: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,

Adam Smith, 1776, Book IV: Of Systems of Political Economy

191 Murray Rothbard, a featured economist of the modern "Austrian School",

summarized the "Statist" perspective and criticism: "Mercantilism, which

reached its height in the Europe of the seventeenth and eighteenth

centuries, was a system of statism which employed economic fallacy to

build up a structure of imperial state power, as well as special subsidy and

monopolistic privilege to individuals or groups favored by the state. Thus,

mercantilism held exports should be encouraged by the government and

imports discouraged.” (Mercantilism: A Lesson for Our Times?, Murray

Rothbard, Freeman, 1963)

192 As argued in the essay Value System Disorder, this is a false duality and

moot with respect to the underlying problems commonly attributed to the

polarized debate.

193 From here on in this essay, we will use the term “capitalism” in its most

common cultural form, implying the “free market” theoretical context.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

68

should be stated upfront that there is no complete agreement amongst

economic historians/theorists as to what the essential features of

capitalism really are. We will, however, reduce its historical

characterization (which some will likely find debatable) to four basic

features.

1) Market-based production/distribution: Commodity production is

based around rather complex interrelationships and dependencies that

do not involve direct personal interactions between producers and

consumers. Supply and demand is mediated by the "market" system.

2) Private ownership of production means: This means that society

grants to private persons the right to dictate how the raw materials,

tools, machinery, and buildings necessary for production can be used.

3) Decoupling of ownership and labor: In short, a constant class divide

is inherent where on the top level, “capitalists”,

194

by historical

definition, own the means of production, but yet have no obligation to

contribute to production itself. The capitalist owns everything produced

by the laborers, who only own their own labor, by legal authority.

4) Self-maximizing incentive assumed: Individualistic, competitive and

acquisitive interests are necessary for the successful functioning of

capitalism since a constant pressure to consume and expand is needed

to avoid recessions, depressions and other negatives. In many ways,

this is the “rational” behavioral view held where if all humans acted in

a certain assumed way, the system would function without

inhibition.

195

Locke: Evolution of “Property”

A deep philosophical undercurrent to the capitalist system is the notion

of “property”. English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) is a pivotal

figure. Also sourced in Adam Smith's more influential Wealth of

Nations, Locke not only defines the idea in general, he presents a

subtle yet powerful contradiction.

In Chapter V, entitled “property”, of Locke's Second Treatise of

Government published in 1689, he poses an argument with respect to

the nature of property and its appropriation. He states: “The labour of

his body and the work of his hands, we may say, are strictly his. So

194 While a “capitalist” can be considered a person in favor of this approach to

economy, a more accurate definition denotes “a person who has capital,

especially extensive capital, invested in business enterprises.”

[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/capitalist] In other words, this is a

person who owns or invests capital for a return or profit, but yet has no

obligation to contribute to actual production or labor in any way.

195 A corollary to this are the various “rational choice” and “utility theories”

common to free market microeconomic theory which attempts to quantify

human actions around various behavioral models. (more on this later in the

essay)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

69

when he takes something from the state that nature has provided and

left it in, he mixes his labour with it, thus joining to it something that

is his own; and in that way he makes it his property.”

196

This

statement (supporting in gesture what was later to associate with the

“labor theory of value”), proposes the logic that since labor is “owned”

by the laborer (since he owns himself), any energy expelled through

his labor transfers that ownership to the product made.

His philosophical disposition is essentially derived from a

Christian perspective, stating: “God gave the world to men in

common; but since he gave it to them for their benefit and for the

greatest conveniences of life they could get from it, he can’t have

meant it always to remain common and uncultivated.”

197

Given this declaration of the “common” nature of the earth and

its fruits to all of humanity before its “cultivation” via appropriation in

the form property, he also derives that owners are required to not

allow anything to spoil (“Nothing was made by God for man to spoil or

destroy.”)

198

and they must leave enough for others (“This

appropriation of a plot of land by improving it wasn’t done at the

expense of any other man, because there was still enough [and as

good] left for others...”).

199

These values, in simplistic form, seem socially justifiable in

general. He makes it clear up until this point that the ownership

context is relevant only in so far as the owner's needs and ability to

cultivate, or produce.

200

However, in Section 36, he reveals a unique

reality, the implications of which Locke likely did not anticipate and, in

many ways, nullifies all prior arguments in his defense of private

property. He states: “The ‘one thing’ that blocks this is the invention of

money, and men’s tacit agreement to put a value on it; this made it

possible, with men’s consent, to have larger possessions and to have a

right to them.”

201

Now, in effect, his original premise, summarized in part here,

that: “Anyone can through his labour come to own as much as he can

use in a beneficial way before it spoils; anything beyond this is more

than his share and belongs to others”

202

becomes very difficult to defend as money now not only allows

196 Source: Second Treatise of Government, John Locke, 1689, Chapter V,

Section 27

197 Ibid, Chapter V, Section 34, 1689

198 Ibid, Chapter V, Section 31, 1689

199 Ibid, Chapter V, Section 33, 1689

200 Locke States: “Nature did well in setting limits to private property through

limits to how much men can work and limits to how much they need. No

man’s labour could tame or appropriate all the land; no man’s enjoyment

could consume more than a small part; so that it was impossible for any

man in this way to infringe on the right of another, or acquire a property to

the disadvantage of his neighbor...” (Second Treatise of Government, John

Locke, Chapter V, Section 36, 1689)

201 Ibid, Chapter V, Section 36, 1689

202 Ibid, Chapter V, Section 31, 1689

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

70

“[men] to have larger possessions”, implicitly voiding in context the

idea that “anything beyond this is more than his share and belongs to

others”, it also further implies that money can buy labor, which voids

the idea that “he [in this case the buyer] mixes his labour with it, thus

joining to it something that is his own; and in that way he makes it his

property.”

203

Finally, the proviso “Nothing was made by God for man to spoil

or destroy”

204

is nullified with a new association that money, being

gold or silver at that time, simply cannot spoil. “That is how money

came into use - as a durable thing that men could keep without its

spoiling, and that by mutual consent men would take in exchange for

the truly useful but perishable supports of life.”

205

It is here where we find, at least in the medium of literary

discourse, the true seed of capitalist ownership justification where the

use of money, treated as an abstract commodity in and of itself (in

effect, an assumed embodiment of “labor”), allowed an evolution of

thought and practice to emerge which increasingly shifted the focus

from relevant production (Locke's “cultivation”) to mere ownership

mechanics and the pursuit of profit.

206

Adam Smith

Adam Smith (1723-1790) is often credited as one of the most

influential economic philosophers in modern history. His work, while

naturally based on the philosophical writings of many before him, is

often considered a starting point for economic thought in the context

of modern capitalism. Reaching maturity at the dawn of the Industrial

Revolution,

207

Smith lived at a time where it could be argued that the

inherent features of the capitalist “mode of production” were becoming

ever more striking, given the introduction of concentrated, centralized

production factories and markets.

As noted, in 1776 Smith published his now world famous An

Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Among

many relevant observations, he appears to be the first to recognize the

three principal categories of income at the time - (a) profits, (b) rents

and (c) wages - and how they related to the main social classes of the

period - (a) capitalists, (b) landlords, and (c) laborers. It is worth

noting that the role of landlords/rent, which is seldom discussed today

203 Ibid, Chapter V, Section 27, 1689

204 Ibid, Chapter V, Section 31, 1689

205 Ibid, Chapter V, Section 47, 1689

206 The Stock Market and increasing power of the investment/financial powers

around the world in the 21

st

century reflects this culmination well. It

appears that the mere act of ownership and trade via money alone, without

any need for production cultivation and human service, has become the

most profitable industry in the world today.

207 The Industrial Revolution occurred from about 1760 to some time between

1820 and 1840 starting in Europe, according to various historians, and was

essentially the transition/application to new, technology based

manufacturing processes.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

71

in modern economic treatments, was a common point of focus then

since the pre-industrial systems where still largely agrarian,

highlighting the landlords (which later dissolved into the classification

of simply owners in future market theories).

Smith's most noted contribution to the philosophy of capitalism

was his general advocation that even though individuals might act in a

narrow, selfish manner on their personal behalf or on the behalf of the

class or group to which they are a part, and even though conflict, both

individual or class based, seemed to be the result of these actions,

there was what he called an “invisible hand” that secured a positive

social outcome from singular, selfish, non-social intents. This concept

was presented both in his works The Theory of Moral Sentiments

208

and The Wealth of Nations.

He stated in the latter: “As every individual, therefore,

endeavors as much as he can both to employ his capital in the support

of domestic industry, and so to direct that industry that its produce

may be of the greatest value; every individual necessarily labors to

render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He

generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor

knows how much he is promoting it...he intends only his own gain, and

he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to

promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the

worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own

interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually

than when he really intends to promote it.”

209

This nearly religious ideal had a powerful effect on the post-

Smith era, giving a very social vindication for the inherently self-

maximizing, anti-social behavior common to capitalist psychology. This

basic philosophy was to develop, in part, as the foundation of

“neoclassical”

210

economics beginning in the late nineteenth century.

208 “The rich only select from the heap what is most precious and agreeable.

They consume little more than the poor, and in spite of their natural

selfishness and rapacity, though they mean only their own conveniency,

though the sole end which they propose from the labours of all the

thousands whom they employ, be the gratification of their own vain and

insatiable desires, they divide with the poor the produce of all their

improvements. They are led by an invisible hand to make nearly the same

distribution of the necessaries of life, which would have been made, had the

earth been divided into equal portions among all its inhabitants, and thus

without intending it, without knowing it, advance the interest of the society,

and afford means to the multiplication of the species.” [The Theory of Moral

Sentiments par. IV.I.10, 1790]

209 Source: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,

Adam Smith, 1776, par. IV.2.9

210 There is no static definition of “neoclassical economics”. However, a

general, culturally common summary includes the broad interest in “free”,

unregulated markets, focusing on the determination of prices, outputs, and

income distributions in markets through supply and demand, often mediated

through a hypothesized maximization of utility by income-constrained

individuals and of profits by cost-constrained firms.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

72

Smith, knowing quite well the class conflicts inherent to

capitalism, goes on to discuss the nature of how some men gain

“...superiority over the greater part of their brethren”,

211

reinforcing

what was to increasingly be considered a “law of nature” regarding

human power and subjugation by further theorists. His view of

property was in harmony with John Locke, elaborating on how society

itself is manifest around it. He stated “Civil government, so far as it is

instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the

defense of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some

property against those who have none at all.”

212

Property, as an institution, also requires a means to justify

respective value. To this end, various “theories of value” have been

and continue to be postulated. Often sourced in origin back to

Aristotle's Politics, Smith's contribution is still widely referenced as a

pivotal influence. In effect, Smith builds upon Locke's “mixing labor”

premise of production/ownership and extends from there, creating a

“labor theory of value”.

He states “Labour was the first price, the original purchase

money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but

by labour, that all the wealth of the world was originally purchased;

and its value, to those who possess it, and who want to exchange it for

some new productions, is precisely equal to the quantity of labour

which it can enable them to purchase or command.”

213

Many chapters

of Book I of Wealth of Nations work to explain the nature of

prices/values respective to his denoted income/class categories of

“wages”, “rents”, and “profits”. However, it will be found that his logic

is rather circular in specifics as the price assessments are found to

originate merely from other price assessments in a chain with no real

starting point, other than the loose distinction of applied labor, which

has, of course, no intrinsic, static monetary qualification. This problem

of ambiguity in both the dominant “labor” and “utility” theories of

value common to capitalist market theory will be addressed in detail

later in this essay.

Overall, Smith’s economic theory supported “laissez-faire”

capitalism as the highest mode of socioeconomic operation, stating

that: it was a “system of natural liberty” and “Every man, as long as

he does not violate the laws of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue

his own interest his own way, and to bring both his industry and

capital into competition with those of any other man, or order of

men.”

214

This later concept, as will be argued in the essay, Value

System Disorder, is a rather naive assumption of human behavior and,

in effect, a contradiction in terms.

211 Source: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,

Adam Smith, 1776, par. V.1.2

212 Ibid.

213 Ibid.

214 Ibid., par. IV.9.51

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

73

Malthus and Ricardo

Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) and David Ricardo (1772-1823) were

two well acknowledged, leading theorists of political economy of the

early 19

th

century. They were “friendly rivals” by some comparison but

from the broad view of history they shared virtually the same

perspective, closely tied to Adam Smith's.

The late Industrial Revolution in Europe and America was a

period of extensive conflict between laborers and capitalist owners.

Numerous revolts and strikes in response to abhorrent and abusive

working conditions for not only men, but also women and children,

were common. This gave rapid rise to the now common labor unions

and a general battle between “workers and owners” has continued

ever since. To emphasize the extent of this class warfare, in England,

the Combination Act of 1799 was imposed which basically outlawed

any combination of workers to group together for power in order to, in

effect, exert influence or inhibit the interests of their employers.

215

Historian Paul Mantoux, writing of this period, commented on

"the absolute and uncontrolled power of the capitalist. In this, the

heroic age of great undertakings, it was acknowledged, admitted and

even proclaimed with brutal candor. It was the employer’s own

business, he did as he chose and did not consider that any other

justification of his conduct was necessary. He owed his employees

wages and once those were paid the men had no further claim on

him.”

216

It was in the midst of all this that Malthus and Ricardo

invariably contextualized their economic and social views.

Beginning with Malthus, his classic work An Essay on the

Principle of Population orients around essentially two assumptions. The

first is that the class structure of wealthy proprietors and poor laborers

would inevitably reemerge no matter what reforms where

attempted.

217

He considered it a law of nature. The second idea,

something of a corollary to first, was simply that poverty and suffering

and hence economic divides were inevitable consequences of natural

law.

218

His thesis on population rests upon the very simple assumption

that “Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio.

215 This power of capitalist interests to engage and, in many ways, become the

government to serve their own competitive advantage will also be discussed

in the essay: “Value System Disorder”

216 Source: The Industrial Revolution in the Eighteenth Century, Paul Mantoux,

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1927, p.417

217 He states: “No possible sacrifices of the rich, particularly in money, could

for any time prevent the recurrence of distress among the lower members

of society, whoever they were” (An Essay on the Principle of Population,

Thomas Malthus, 1798, Chapter 5)

218 He states: "It has appeared, that from the inevitable laws of our nature

some human beings must suffer from want. These are the unhappy persons

who, in the great lottery of life, have drawn a blank.” (An Essay on the

Principle of Population, Thomas Malthus, 1798, Chapter 10)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

74

Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio.”

219

Therefore, if the

standard of living of everyone in society were increased, the vast

majority would respond by increasing the amount of children they

have. In turn, population outpacing subsistence would very soon push

the population back to poverty. It was only through “moral

restraint”,

220

a social quality that he implies to belong to the more

upstanding upper class, that this problem is checked by behavior.

Evidently, the difference between the wealthy and the poor was the

high moral character of the former and the base morality of the

latter.

221

Again, as noted prior in this essay, the intuitive cultural

condition has had a great deal to do with the prevailing premises of

thought that have guided economic operations into the modern day.

While many today might dismiss Malthus and these clearly outdated

ideas, the seeds were deeply planted in the economic doctrines, values

and class relationships that occurred during and after his time. In fact,

those of a more “conservative” mindset still commonly cite variations

of his population theory when dealing with economically less-

developed countries.

Malthus, along with Locke and Smith, also held deeply

Christian convictions in their frames of reference, whether directly

extracted from scripture or based on personal interpretation. Malthus

frames his “moral restraint” with the implication that a true Christian

would righteously denounce such base vices and also accept the

inevitable misery necessary to keep population from outstripping

resource subsistence. Likewise, just as there is enormous debate today

with respect to laws pertaining to the notion and use of “welfare” or

“public aid” programs” to help the poor,

222

Malthus, naturally, was a

big proponent of the abolition of what were then called the “poor

laws”, as was David Ricardo.

Moving on to Ricardo, he essentially accepted Malthus’

population theory and conclusions regarding the nature and causes of

poverty, but disagreed with certain economic theories, such as

219 Source: An Essay on the Principle of Population, Thomas Malthus, 1798,

Chapter 1

220 From his 2

nd

edition of An Essay on the Principle of Population, 1836,

Principles of Political Economy, vol. 1, p.14. New York, Augustus M. Kelley,

1964.

221 It is worth noting that the Malthusian Population Theory is actually very

inaccurate with respect to factors pertaining to population growth, based on

statistical understandings today. Apart from the effect technology has

played in expanding production capacity and efficiency exponentially,

particularly with respect to food production, the generalization that higher

standards of living increase population proportionally is not supported by

regional comparison. Poor countries statistically reproduce faster today than

wealthy countries. The issue appears to be a cultural, religious and

educational phenomenon, not a rigid “law of nature” as Malthus concluded.

222 Reference: Abolishment of Welfare: An Idea Becomes a Cause

(http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/22/us/abolishment-of-welfare-an-idea-

becomes-a-cause.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

75

elements of Malthus' theory of value, theory of gluts and certain class

assumptions. Since most of these disagreements in detail are

superfluous to this broad discussion at hand (and arguably outdated in

general), Ricardo's most notable contributions to economic thought will

be the point of focus.

In 1821, Ricardo finished the third edition of his influential

Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. In the preface, he states

his interest: "The produce of the earth...all that is derived from its

surface by the united application of labour, machinery, and capital, is

divided among three classes of the community, namely, the proprietor

of the land, the owner of the stock of capital necessary for its

cultivation, and the laborers by whose industry it is cultivated. To

determine the laws which regulate this distribution is the principal

problem in political economy."

223

While critical of certain aspects of Adam Smith's labor theory

of value, he still supported the basic distinction, stating: “Possessing

utility, commodities derive their exchangeable value from two sources:

from their scarcity, and from the quantity of labour required to obtain

them.”

224

In common with Smith, he elaborates: “If the quantity of

labour realized in commodities regulates their exchangeable value

every increase of the quantity of labour must augment the value of

that commodity on which it is exercised, as every diminution must

lower it.”

225

Consequently, Ricardo viewed society and the class divisions of

his time from the labor perspective and it logically went that the

interests of workers and capitalists were opposed. “If wages should

rise,” he often stated, “then... profits would necessarily fall.”

226

Yet,

even though this disharmony alludes to an underlying interest of each

class to work to gain advantage over the other for their benefit, often

resulting in general imbalance in large part due to the power of the

capitalist owners to control labor (and set policy), coupled with the

advent of mechanization (machine application) which systematically

reduced the need for human labor in applied sectors, he alludes to the

conviction that the theory of capitalism, if correctly applied, should

always create full employment in the long run.

On the specific issue of machine application displacing human

labor for the advantage of the manufacturer, he states: “The

manufacturer...who...can have recourse to a machine which

shall...[lower the costs] of production on his commodity, would enjoy

peculiar advantages if he could continue to charge the same price for

his goods; but he...would be obliged to lower the price of his

commodities, or capital would flow to his trade till his profits had sunk

to the general level. Thus then is the public benefited by

223 Source: The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, David Ricardo,

1821, Dent Edition, 1962, p.272.

224 Ibid., p.5

225 Ibid., p.7

226 Ibid., p.64

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

76

machinery.”

227

However, as with other aspects of his writing, contradiction is

common. While maintaining the basic idea that the general public

would benefit from the introduction of labor displacing machinery

under the assumption that market prices would cleanly decline and

those displaced would always smoothly relocate, in the third edition of

his Principles, Ricardo starts chapter 31 by stating: "Ever since I first

turned my attention to questions of political economy, I have been of

the opinion that...an application of machinery to any branch of

production as should have the effect of saving labour was a general

good...[but] that the substitution of machinery for human labor is

often very injurious to the interests of the class of laborers.”

228

He later re-qualifies the argument by stating “The statements

which I have made will not, I hope, lead to the inference that

machinery should not be encouraged. To elucidate the principle, I have

been supposing, that improved machinery is suddenly discovered, and

extensively used; but the truth is, that these discoveries are gradual,

and rather operate in determining the employment of the capital which

is saved and accumulated, than in diverting capital from its actual

employment.”

229

His general dismissal of the issue of humans being displaced

by machines, later to be called “technological unemployment” will also

be found in common with many other economists that followed him,

including John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946), who stated, in line with

Ricardo's general assumption of “adjustment”: “We are being afflicted

with a new disease of which some readers may not yet have heard the

name, but of which they will hear a great deal in the years to come -

namely, technological unemployment. This means unemployment due

to our discovery of means of economizing the use of labour outrunning

the pace at which we can find new uses for labour. But this is only a

temporary phase of maladjustment. All this means in the long run that

mankind is solving its economic problem.”

230

The subject is brought up here as an accent of focus because it

will be revisited in part III of this text, presenting a context of

technological application apparently unrealized or disregarded by the

major economic theorists of modern history who, again, are often

locked into a narrow frame of reference.

As a final point regarding Ricardo, he is also credited for his

contribution to international “free-trade”, specifically his Theory of

Comparative Advantage, along with perpetuation of the basic “invisible

hand” ethos of Adam Smith. Ricardo States: "Under a system of

perfectly free commerce, each country naturally devotes its capital and

labour to such employments as are most beneficial to each. This

227 Ibid., p.53

228 Ibid., pp.263-264

229 Ibid., p.267

230 Source: Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren, John Maynard

Keynes, 1931

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

77

pursuit of individual advantage is admirably connected with the

universal good of the whole. By stimulating industry, by rewarding

ingenuity, and by using most efficaciously the peculiar powers

bestowed by nature, it distributes labour most effectively and most

economically: while, by increasing the general mass of productions, it

diffuses general benefit, and binds together, by one common tie of

interest and intercourse, the universal society of nations throughout

the civilized world."

231

Theories of Value and Behavior

Up until this point, the broad contributions of four major historical

figures and inevitably the central characteristics inherent to the

capitalist philosophy have been briefly discussed. It will be noticed that

underlying these views rest assumptions of human behavior, social

(class) relationships, coupled with a “metaphysical” market logic where

everything will work out just fine if certain values and a generally

“selfish” perspective is taken by the players of the market game, along

with little “restriction” of the market itself.

As a brief aside, nowhere in the writings of these thinkers, nor

in the vast majority of works produced by later theorists in favor of

free market capitalism, is the actual structure and process of

production and distribution discussed. There is an explicit disconnect

between “industry” and “business”, with the former related to the

technical/scientific process of true economic unfolding; with the latter

only pertaining to the codified market dynamics and pursuit of profit.

As will be discussed more so in a moment, a central problem inherent

to the capitalist mode of production is how advancements in the

“industrial approach”, which can allow for increased problem resolution

and the furthering of prosperity, have been blocked by the traditional,

seemingly immutable tenets of the “business approach”. The latter has

governed the actions of the former, to the disadvantage of the

former's potential.

This kind of disconnect or truncated frame of reference is also

to be found in other areas of focus, such as the dominant theories of

labor, value and human behavior which inevitably serve to justify the

institution of capitalism. As noted prior, the “labor theory of value”,

made popular in general by its implications via Locke, Smith and

Ricardo, is a generalized proposal stating that the value of a

commodity is related to the labor needed to produce or obtain that

commodity. As acceptable as this idea is in general from an intuitive

perspective, there are many levels of ambiguity when it comes to

quantification. Many historical objections have persisted, such as how

different types of labor having differing skills and wage rates could not

be properly combined, along with how to factor in natural resources

and “working” investment capital itself.

231 Source: The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, David Ricardo,

1821, Dent Edition, 1962, p.81

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

78

The growth of “capital goods”

232

in the 20

th

century, such as

machine automation of labor, also present challenges for the rather

simplified labor theories' concept of labor derived value since, after a

certain point, the labor value inherent to production machines, which

today often function to produce more machines with diminishing

human effort over time, presents an ever diluted transfer of value in

this context. It has been suggested by some economists today,

focusing on the rapidly advancing fields of information and

technological sciences, that the use of machine automation, coupled

with artificial intelligence, could very well move humans out of the

traditional labor force almost entirely. Suddenly, capital has become

labor, so to speak.

233

This ambiguity extends also to competing theories of value

postulated by economists, including most notably what is called the

utility theory of value. While the labor theory basically takes the

perspective of labor or production, the utility theory takes what we

could call the “market perspective”, meaning that value is derived not

from labor but by the purpose (or utility) derived by its use (use value)

by the consumer, as perceived by the consumer.

French Economist Jean-Baptiste Say (1737-1832) is notable

with respect to utility theory. A self-proclaimed disciple of Adam

Smith, he differed with Smith on this issue of value, stating: “After

having shown...the improvement which the science of political

economy owes to Dr. Smith, it will not, perhaps, be useless to

indicate...some of the points on which he erred...To the labour of man

alone he ascribes the power of producing values. This is an error.”

234

He goes on to explain how the “exchange value” (price), of any

good or service depends entirely on its “use value” (utility). He states:

”The value that mankind attaches to objects originates in the use it

can make of them...[To the] inherent fitness or capability of certain

things to satisfy the various wants of mankind, I shall take leave to

affix the name utility...The utility of things is the ground-work of their

value, and their value constitutes wealth...Although price is the

measure of the value of things, and their value the measure of their

utility, it would be absurd to draw the inference, that, by forcibly

raising their price, their utility can be augmented. Exchangeable value,

or price, is an index of the recognized utility of a thing.

235

The utility theory of value is different from the labor theory not

232 “Capital goods” are generally defined as: Any tangible assets that an

organization uses to produce goods or services such as office buildings,

equipment and machinery. Consumer goods are the end result of this

production process.

(http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalgoods.asp#axzz2Gxg1RmR6)

233 Reference: The End of Work: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the

Dawn of the Post-Market Era, Jeremy Rifkin, Putnam Publishing Group, 1995

234 Source: A Treatise on Political Economy, Jean-Baptiste Say, Philadelphia:

Lippincott, 1863, p.xi (Translation is from the fourth French edition,

published in 1821)

235 Ibid, p.62

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

79

only in its derivation of value, but also in its implication regarding a

kind of subjective rationalization with respect to human decisions in

the market. Utilitarianism,

236

which has become deeply characteristic

of the microeconomic assumptions put forward by neoclassical

economists today, is often modeled in complex mathematical formulas

in an effort to explain how humans in the market “maximize their

utility”, specifically around the idea of increasing happiness and

reducing suffering.

Underlying these ideas of human behavior, as with most of

economic theory itself, are, again, traditionalized assumptions.

Economist Nassau Senior (1790–1864) supported a common theme

reoccurring today that human wants were infinite: “What we mean to

state is, that no person feels his whole wants to be adequately

supplied; that every person has some unsatisfied desires which he

believes that additional wealth would gratify.”

237

Such declarations of

human nature are constant in such treatments, with notions of greed,

fear and other hedonistic reflex mechanisms which assume, among

other things, that material acquisition, wealth and gain are inherent

to happiness.

Today, the dominant and largely accepted microeconomic

perspective is that all human behavior is reducible to rational, strategic

attempts to maximize either profits or gain and to avoid pain or loss.

Ever expansive utilitarian arguments of this nature continue to be used

to morally justify competitive, market capitalism. One example of this

is the notion of “voluntarism” and the suggestion that all acts in the

market are never coerced and therefore everyone is free to make their

own decisions for their own gain or loss. This idea is extremely

common today, as though such “free exchanges” existed in a void with

no other synergistic pressures; as though the pressures of survival in a

system with clear tendencies toward basic class warfare and strategic

scarcity would not generate an inherent coercion to force laborers to

submit to capitalist exploitation.

238

Overall, the utilitarian (hedonistic, and competitive and

“forever dissatisfied”) model of human nature is likely the most

common defense of the capitalist system today. It is, in many ways,

236 Jeremy Bentham, a notable proponent of "Classic Utilitarianism", stated:

“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign

masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought

to do… By the principle of utility is meant that principle which approves or

disapproves of every action whatsoever according to the tendency it

appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose

interest is in question: or, what is the same thing in other words to promote

or to oppose that happiness. I say of every action whatsoever, and

therefore not only of every action of a private individual, but of every

measure of government.” (An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and

Legislation, Jeremy Bentham, 1789, Dover Philosophical Classics, 2009. p.1)

237 An Outline of the Science of Political Economy, Nassau Senior, 1836,

London, Allen and U., 1938, p.27

238 More on this issue will be discussed in the essay Structural Classicism.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

80

both a psychological theory of how people behave and an ethical

theory of how they ought to behave, arguably supporting a retroactive

logic that often puts market theory before human behavioral reality,

conforming the latter to the former.

In reality, when the utilitarian perspective is fully considered,

two serious problems emerge. First, it is virtually impossible to find

predictability in such “pleasure and pain” boundaries after a certain

degree on the social level. There is no empirical means of comparing

the intensity of one individual’s sense of pleasure with those of another

individual, beyond the very most basic assumption of wanting “gain”

over “loss”. While the utility theory of value might be logical in a

purely abstract, generalized view, without quantification, the

mechanics of such emotional dynamics are, in reality, susceptible to

severe variation.

The entire life experience of a person, compared to another

person, might find some very basic common ground with respect to

their personal conditioning to pleasure and pain responses, but seldom

will a parallel concordance be found in any detail. Since individual

pleasures are deemed the ultimate “moral” criteria in utilitarianism,

there is really no way one can make such judgments between the

pleasures of two individuals. Economist Jeremy Bentham, often

considered the father of utilitarianism, actually recognized this in

passing, writing: “Prejudice apart, the game of push-pin is of equal

value with the arts and sciences of music and poetry. If the game of

push-pin furnish more pleasure, it is more valuable than either.”

239

The second problem is the shortsighted nature of the assumed

emotional reaction. Human beings have historically expressed the

rational interest to suffer in the present in order to gain (or hope to

gain) in the future. Altruism, which has undergone extensive

philosophical debate, might very well be rooted in forms of “pleasure”

obtained by the selfless (painful) acts for the benefit of others. As will

be discussed later, the pain/pleasure premise put forward by such

arguments, reinforced by an impulsive reaction for gain, has become a

socially rewarded pattern. This has generated a mentality where short-

term gain is sought after often at the true expense of long-term

suffering.

Yet, in abstraction, utilitarianism also offers a bizarre kind of

equalizer, since it can be identified with the perspective of “mutual

exchange” and hence a way to always see capitalism as a system of

social harmony, rather than of warfare. Coming back to the labor

theory vs. the utility theory of value, the former clearly shows conflict

as the labor theory takes into account the cost-efficiency sought by the

capitalist, at the expense of wages for the laborers. The utility theory,

on the other hand, removes these ideas overall and states that

everyone is seeking the same thing and therefore, structure aside,

everyone is equal. In other words, all exchanges become mutually

beneficial to everyone in a narrow, absurdly abstract generalized logic.

239 Rationale of Reward, Jeremy Bentham Book 3, Chapter 1

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

81

All human actions are reduced to this system of “exchange” and hence

all political or social distinctions disappear in theory.

The “Socialist” Uprising

Socialism, like capitalism, has no universally accepted definition in

general public conversation but is often technically defined as “an

economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of

production and co-operative management of the economy.”

240

The

root of socialist thought appears to go back to 18

th

century Europe,

with a complex history of “reformers” working to challenge the

emerging capitalist system. Gracchus Babeuf (1760-1797) is a notable

theorist in this area, with his "Conspiracy of Equals" which attempted

to topple the French Government. He stated “Society must be made to

operate in such a way that it eradicates once and for all the desire of a

man to become richer, or wiser, or more powerful than others.”

241

French Socialist-Anarchist Pierre Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865) is

famous for declaring that “Property is Theft” in his pamphlet An

Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government.

By the early 19

th

century, socialist ideas were expanding

rapidly, commonly in response to perceived moral and ethic problems

inherent to capitalism, such as class imbalance and exploitation. The

list of influential thinkers is vast and complex, so only three

individuals, noting their most relevant contributions, will be discussed

here: William Thompson, Karl Marx and Thorstein Veblen.

William Thompson (1775-1833) was a powerful influence on

socialist thought. He was in support of the idea of “cooperatives”,

made famous by Robert Owen as something of an alternative to the

capitalist business model and philosophically took a utilitarian

perspective when it came to human behavior. He was very influenced

by Bentham but his use/interpretation of utilitarianism was rather

different. For instance, he believe that if all members of society were

treated equally, rather than engage class warfare and exploitation,

they would have equal capacities to experience happiness.

242

He argued extensively for a kind of market socialism, where

egalitarianism and equality prevailed in his famous An Inquiry into the

Principles of the Distribution of Wealth Most Conducive to Human

Happiness. He made it clear that Capitalism was a system of

exploitation and insecurity, stating: “The tendency of the existing

arrangement of things as to wealth is to enrich a few at the expense of

the mass of producers, to make the poverty of the poor more

240 Source: Britannica.com

(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/551569/socialism)

241 Source: The Defense of Gracchus Babeuf before the High Court of

Vendôme, University of Massachusetts Press, 1967, p.57

242 Reference: An Inquiry into the Principles of the Distribution of Wealth Most

Conducive to Human Happiness, William Thompson, London, William S.

Orr, 1850, p.17

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

82

hopeless.”

243

However, he went on to recognize that even if such a

hybrid of capitalism and socialism did emerge, the underlying premise

of competition was still a serious problem. He wrote at length about

the problems inherent to the nature of market competition, outlining

five issues that have been common rhetoric of socialist thought ever

since.

The first problem was that every “laborer, artisan and trader

[viewed] a competitor, a rival in every other...[and each viewed]; a

second competition, a second rivalship between...[his or her

profession] and the public.”

244

He went on to state it would be “in the

interest of all medical men that diseases should exist and prevail, or

their trade would be decreased ten, or one hundred, fold.”

245

The second problem was the inherent oppression of women

and distortion of the family, noting that the division of labor and

overarching ethic of competitive selfishness further secured the

drudgery of women in the household and gender inequality.

246

The third problem associated with competition was the

inherent instability generated in the economy itself, stating: "The third

evil here imputed to the very principle of individual competition is, that

it must occasionally lead to unprofitable or injudicious modes of

individual exertion...every man must judge for himself as to the

probability of success in the occupation which he adopts. And what are

his means of judging? Every one, doing well in his calling, is interested

in concealing his success, lest competition should reduce his gains.

What individual can judge whether the market, frequently at a great

distance, sometimes in another hemisphere of the globe is

overstocked, or likely to be so, with the article which inclination may

lead him to fabricate?...and should any error of judgment...lead him

into an uncalled for, and, therefore, unprofitable line of exertion, what

is the consequence? A mere error of judgment...may end in severe

distress, if not in ruin. Cases of this sort seem to be unavoidable under

the scheme of individual competition in its best form.”

247

The fourth problem noted is how the selfish nature of the

competitive market presented insecurity around core life support

consequences, such as security in old age, sickness and from

accidents.

248

The fifth problem denoted by Thompson regarding market

competition was that it slowed the advancement of knowledge.

“Concealment, therefore, of what is new or excellent from competitors,

must accompany individual competition...because the strongest

personal interest is by it opposed to the principle of benevolence.”

249

243 Ibid, p.xxix

244 Ibid, p.259

245 Ibid.

246 Ibid, pp.260-261

247 Ibid, pp.261-263

248 Ibid, p.263

249 Ibid, p.267

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

83

Karl Marx (1818-1883), along with many others, was influenced by

Thompson's work and is likely one of the most well known economic

philosophers today. With his name often used in a derogatory manner

to gesture the perils of Soviet communism or “totalitarianism”, Marx is

also likely the most misunderstood of all popularized economists. While

most famous in the general public mind for presenting treatises on

Socialist-Communist ideas, Marx actually spent most of his time on the

subject of Capitalism and its operations.

His contribution to understanding Capitalism is more vast than

many realize, with many common economic terms and phrases used

today in conversations about capitalism actually finding their root in

Marx's literary treatments. His perspective was largely historical, and

featured particularly detailed scholarship about the evolution of

economic thought. Due to the immense size of his work, only a few

influential issues will be addressed here.

One issue to denote was his awareness of how the capitalist

characteristic of “exchange” was principled as the ultimate basis for

social relationships. He stated in his Grundrisse: “Indeed, insofar as

the commodity or labour is conceived of only as exchange value, and

the relation in which the various commodities are brought into

connection with one another is conceived of as the exchange of these

exchange values...then the individuals...are simply and only conceived

of as exchangers. As far as the formal character is concerned, there is

absolutely no distinction between them...As subjects of exchange,

their relation is therefore that of equality.”

250

“Although individual A feels a need for the commodity of

individual B, he does not appropriate it by force, nor vice versa, but

rather they recognize one another reciprocally as proprietors...No one

seizes hold of another’s by force. Each divests himself of his property

voluntarily.”

251

Again, as noted prior with respect to the reoccurring theme of

human relations and class assumptions (or denials), Marx emphasized

what could be argued as three core delusions: the delusion of

freedom, equality and social harmony, as reduced to an extremely

narrow association around the idea of “mutually beneficial exchange”,

which was to be the only real economic relationship by which the

whole of society is to be assessed.

“It is in the character of the money relation - as far as it is

developed in its purity to this point, and without regard to more highly

developed relations of production - that all inherent contradictions of

bourgeois society appear extinguished in money relations as conceived

in a simple form; and bourgeois democracy even more than bourgeois

economists takes refuge in this aspect...in order to construct

250 Source: Grundrisse, Karl Marx, tr. Martin Nicolaus, Reprint Vintage Books,

New York, 1973 p.241

251 Ibid, p.243

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

84

apologetics for the existing economic relations.

252

His work Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Marx

extensively analyzes many factors of the capitalist system, namely the

nature of commodities themselves, the dynamics between value, use

value, exchange value, labor theory and utility, along with a deep

investigation of what “capital” means, how the system evolved and

ultimately the nature of roles within the model. An important theme to

denote is his view regarding “surplus value”, which, in gesture of

Ricardo's “labor theory of value”, is the assumed value appropriated by

the capitalist in the form of profit, which is in excess of the value

(cost) inherent to labor/production itself.

He stated with respect to dismissing this “Surplus” origin in

exchange: “Turn and twist then as we may, the fact remains

unaltered. If equivalents are exchanged, no surplus-value results, and

if non-equivalents are exchanged, still no surplus-value results.

Circulation, or the exchange of commodities, begets no value.”

253

He

then argues, in short, differentiating between “labor” and “labor

power”, with the latter consisting of both a “use value” and an

“exchange value”, that a worker is only compensated for meeting his

needs for subsistence, which is represented in his wages, while

everything past that value is a “surplus”, which theoretically translates

into the “profit” made by the capitalist, finalized by the price “mark

up” in market exchange.

254

This point, which he further extends in context & dynamics

inherent to the circulation/application of different forms of capital

(capital defined still as a means of production but in this case mostly in

its monetary form), poses the conclusion that an exploitation of the

workers was inherent to the creation of “surplus value” or “profit”. In

other words, by implication, this was a form of basic inequality built

into the capitalist system and as long as one small group of “owners”

controlled the surplus value created by the working class, there will

always be rich and poor, wealth and poverty.

Marx further extends this idea to a reassessment of “property”,

which was essentially now the legal foundation of “capital” itself,

explicitly allowing for the coercive expropriation of “surplus labor” (that

part of labor which generates the surplus value) stating: “At first the

rights of property seemed to us to be based on a man’s own labour. At

least, some such assumption was necessary since only commodity-

owners with equal rights confronted each other, and the sole means by

which a man could become possessed of the commodities of others,

was by alienating (giving up) his own commodities; and these could be

replaced by labour alone. Now, however, property turns out to be the

right, on the part of the capitalist, to appropriate the unpaid labour

(surplus labor) of others or its product, and to be the impossibility on

252 Ibid, pp.240-241

253 Source: Capital, Karl Marx, Foreign Languages reprint , Moscow, 1961, vol.

3, p.163

254 Ibid, p.176

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

85

the part of the labourer, of appropriating his own product. The

separation of property from labour has become the necessary

consequence of a law that apparently originated in their identity.”

255

Marx develops these kinds of arguments extensively in his

writing, including the idea that working class labor cannot be

“voluntary” in this system - only coercive - since the ultimate decision

to apply labor for a wage was in the hands of the capitalist. He stated,

“The worker therefore only feels himself outside his work, and in his

work feels outside himself. He is at home when he is not working, and

when he is working he is not at home. His labour is therefore not

voluntary but coerced; it is forced labour. It is therefore not the

satisfaction of a need; it is merely a means to satisfy needs external to

it.”

256

In the end, it was this complex, multifaceted degradation,

exploitation and dehumanization of the average worker that bothered

him so and pushed him toward reform. He even invented a phrase -

“The Law of the Increasing Misery” - to describe how the general

working population's happiness was inverse to the accumulation of

wealth for the capitalist class. In the end, Marx was convinced that

pressures inherent to the system would push the working class to

revolt against the capitalist class, allowing for a new “socialist” mode

of production where, in part, the working class operated for their own

benefit.

Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929) will be the final so-called “socialist”

whose influential ideas regarding the development and flaws of

capitalism will be explored here. Like Marx, he had the advantage of

time with respect to the digestion of economic history. Veblen taught

economics at a number of universities during his time, prolifically

producing literature on various social issues.

Veblen was very critical of the neoclassical economic

assumptions, specifically regarding the applied utilitarian ideas of

“human nature”, seeing the idea that all human economic behavior

was to be reduced to a hedonistic interplay of self-maximization and

preservation as absurdly simplistic.

257

He took what we could call an

“evolutionary” view of human history, with change defined by the

social institutions that took hold or were surpassed. He stated with

respect to the current (what he deemed “materialistic”) state of the

time:

“Like all human culture this material civilization is a scheme of

institutions - institutional fabric and institutional growth...The growth

of culture is a cumulative sequence of habituation, and the ways and

means of it are the habitual response of human nature to exigencies

255 Ibid, vol. 1, pp.583–584

256 Source: Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Karl Marx, Moscow,

Progress, 1959, p.69

257 Reference: “Why Economics Is Not an Evolutionary Science,” Place of

Science in Modern Civilization and Other Essays, Thorstein Veblen, pp.73-74

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

86

that vary incontinently, cumulatively, but with something of a

consistent sequence in the cumulative variations that so go forward -

incontinently, because each new move creates a new situation which

induces a further new variation in the habitual manner of response;

cumulatively, because each new situation is a variation of what has

gone before it and embodies as causal factors all that has been

effected by what went before; consistently, because the underlying

traits of human nature (propensities, aptitudes, and what not) by force

of which the response takes place, and on the ground of which the

habituation takes effect, remain substantially unchanged.”

258

Veblen challenged the basic foundation of the capitalist mode

of production by questioning many of the factors that had been

essentially “given” or deemed empirical by the centuries of economic

debate. The now ingrained institutions of “wages”, “rents”, “property”,

“interest”, “labor” were disturbed in their supposed simplicity by a

view that none of them could be held as intellectually viable, outside of

the purely categorical association with extreme limits of application.

He joked about how “a gang of Aleutian Islanders slushing about in the

wrack and surf with rakes and magical incantations for the capture of

shell-fish are held, in point of taxonomic reality, to be engaged in a

feat of hedonistic equilibration in rent, wages, and interest. And that is

all there is to it.”

259

He saw production and industry itself as a social process where

lines were deeply blurred, as it invariably involved the sharing of

knowledge (usufruct) and skills. In many ways, he viewed such

categorical characteristics of capitalism to be inherent to capitalism

alone and not representative of physical reality, hence a vast

contrivance. He found that the dominant neoclassical theory existed, in

part, to obscure the fundamental class-warfare and hostility inherent,

to further secure the interests of what he called the “vested interests”

or “absentee owners” (aka capitalists).

260

He rejected the idea that private property was a “natural

right”, as assumed by Locke, Smith and the others, often joking about

the absurdity of thought that leads the “absentee owners” to claim

“ownership” of commodities produced, in reality, by the labor of the

“common worker”, highlighting the absurdity of the long held principle

that from labor, comes property.

261

He went further to express the

inherent social nature of production and how the true nature of skill

and knowledge accumulation completely voided the assumption of

property rights in and of itself, stating:

258 Source: “The Limitations of Marginal Utility,” The Place of Science in

Modern Civilization and Other Essays, Thorstein Veblen, New York, Russell

and Russell, 1961, p.241-242

259 Source: “Professor Clark’s Economics”, Place of Science in Modern

Civilization, Thorstein Veblen, p.193

260 Reference: Absentee Ownership and Business Enterprise in Recent Times,

Thorstein Veblen, Augustus M. Kelley, New York, 1964, p.407

261 Reference: “The Beginnings of Ownership”, Essays in Our Changing Order,

Thorstein Veblen, p.32

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

87

“This natural-rights theory of property makes the creative

effort of an isolated, self-sufficing individual the basis of ownership

vested in him. In so doing it overlooks the fact that there is no

isolated, self-sufficing individual...Production takes place only in

society - only through the co-operation of an industrial community.

This industrial community may be large or small...but it always

comprises a group large enough to contain and transmit the traditions,

tools, technical knowledge, and usages without which there can be no

industrial organization and no economic relation of individuals to one

another or to their environment...There can be no production without

technical knowledge; hence no accumulation and no wealth to be

owned, in severalty or otherwise. And there is no technical knowledge

apart from an industrial community. Since there is no individual

production and no individual productivity, the natural-rights

preconception...reduces itself to absurdity, even under the logic of its

own assumptions.

262

As with Marx, he saw no other way to distinguish the two

major classes of society than between those who work and those who

exploit that work

263

with the profit making portion of capitalism (the

“business”) completely separate from production itself (“industry”). He

makes a clear distinction between business and industry and refers to

the former as functioning as a vehicle of “sabotage” for industry. He

saw a complete contradiction between the ethical intent of the general

community to produce efficiently and with high service, and the laws

of private property that had the power to direct industry for the sake

of profit alone, reducing that efficiency and intent. The term

“sabotage” in this context was defined by Veblen as the “conscientious

withdrawal of efficiency.”

264

He states: “The industrial plant is increasingly running idle or

half idle, running increasingly short of its productive capacity.

Workmen are being laid off...And all the while these people are in

great need of all sorts of goods and services which these idle plants

and idle workmen are fit to produce. But for reasons of business

expediency it is impossible to let these idle plants and idle workmen go

to work—that is to say for reasons of insufficient profit to the business

men interested, or in other words, for the reasons of insufficient

income to the vested interests.”

265

Furthermore, Veblen, as opposed to the vast majority of

people in the modern day who condemn acts of “corruption” on ethical

grounds, did not see any of the problems of abuse and exploitation as

an issue of “morality” or “ethics”. He saw the problems as inherent,

built into the nature of capitalism itself. He states: “It is not that these

262 Ibid, pp.33-34

263 Reference: “The Instinct of Workmanship and the Irksomeness of Labor”,

Essays in Our Changing Order, Thorstein Veblen, pp.188-190

264 Source: The Engineers and the Price System, Thorstein Veblen, New York,

Augustus M. Kelley, 1965, p.1

265 Ibid, p.12

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

88

captains of Big Business whose duty it is to administer this salutary

modicum of sabotage on production are naughty. It is not that they

aim to shorten human life or augment human discomfort by contriving

an increase of privation among their fellow men...The question is not

whether this traffic in privation is humane, but whether it is sound

business management.”

266

With respect to the nature of Government, Veblen's view was

very clear: Government by its very political construct existed to

protect the existing social order and class structure, reinforcing private

property laws and by direct extension reinforcing the disproportionate

ownership (ruling) class. “Legislation, police surveillance, the

administration of justice, the military and diplomatic service, all are

chiefly concerned with business relations, pecuniary interests, and

they have little more than an incidental bearing on other human

interests”,

267

he stated.

The idea of democracy was also deeply violated by capitalist

power in his view, stating “constitutional government is a business

government.”

268

Veblen, while aware of the phenomenon of “lobbying”

and the “buying” of politicians commonly seen today as a form of

“corruption”, did not see this as the real nature of the problem.

Rather, government control by business was not an anomaly. It was

simply what government had manifested to be by design.

269

By its

very nature, as an institutionalized means for social control,

government would always protect the “rich” against the “poor”. Since

the “poor” always greatly outnumbered the “rich”, a rigid legal

structure favoring the wealthy (“propertied interests”) had to exist to

keep the class separation and benefit to the capitalist interests

intact.

270

Likewise, he also recognized how the capitalist-state

government very much needed to keep social values in line with their

interests - what Veblen called a “pecuniary culture”. Therefore, the

predatory, selfish and competitive habits typical of “success” in the

underlying social warfare inherent to the capitalist system naturally

reinforced those values by default. To be giving and vulnerable was of

little use to “success” in this context, as the ruthless and strategically

competitive were icons of social reward.

271

In a broad assessment, Veblen worked to critically analyze the

core structure and values of the capitalist model, posing what could be

argued as some profoundly sociologically advanced conclusions with

respect to its inherent contradictions, technical inefficiency and value

266 Source: Absentee Ownership and Business Enterprise in Recent Times,

Thorstein Veblen, New York, Augustus M. Kelley, 1964, pp.220-221

267 Source: The Theory of Business Enterprise, Thorstein Veblen, New York,

Augustus M. Kelley, 1965, p.269

268 Ibid, p.285

269 Ibid, pp.286-287

270 Ibid, pp.404-405

271 Reference: The Theory of the Leisure Class, Thorstein Veblen, New York,

Augustus M. Kelley, 1965, pp.229-230

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

89

disorders. His work is very much encouraged for review by all

interested in the history of economic thought, specifically for those

skeptical of the premise of the free market.

In Conclusion: Capitalism as “Social Pathology”

The history of economic thought is, in many ways, the history of

human social relationships, with the pattern of certain mere

assumptions gaining prominence to the effect of being considered

sacrosanct and immutable over time. This element of traditionalism,

culminating from values and belief systems of earlier periods, has been

a core theme in this short review of economic history. The central

point being that the attributes taken as “given” to the dominant

theories of economy today are actually not based on direct physical

support, such as would be needed to find validation via the method of

science, but rather based on the mere perpetuation of an established

ideological framework which has evolved to intricately self-refer to its

internal logic, justifying its own existence by its own standards.

Today, it is not what embodies the capitalist ideology in

specifics that is most problematic, but rather what it omits by

extension. Just as early religions saw the world as flat and had to

adjust their rhetoric once it was proven round by science, the tradition

of market economics is faced with similar trials. Considering the

simplicity of the agrarian and eventually primitive approaches to

industrial production, there was little awareness or needed concern

about its possible negative consequences over time on not only the

habitat (ecological) level, but also on the human level (public health).

Likewise, the market system, with its very old assumptions

regarding possibility, also ignores (or even fights) the powerful

breakthroughs in science and technology that express capacities to

solve problems and create elevated prosperity. In fact, as will be

explored in the essay Market Efficiency vs. Technical Efficiency, such

progressive actions and harmonious recognitions regarding the habitat

and human well-being reveals that market capitalism literally cannot

facilitate these solutions, since its very mechanics disallow or work

against such possibilities by default.

Generally speaking, the resolution of problems and hence

increasing of efficiency is, in many ways, anathema to the market's

operation. Solving problems in general means no more ability to gain

income from the “servicing” of those problems. New efficiencies almost

always mean a reduction of labor and energy needs and while that

may seem positive with respect to true earthly efficiency, it also often

means a loss of jobs and reduction of monetary circulation upon its

application.

272

272 A simple example of this is the amount of funding and employment that

has been generated from the serving of cancer. If cures for cancer where to

actually emerge, the downsizing of these massive medical institutions would

naturally result. This means that the solving of problems can result in the

loss of livelihood for many who worked to service those problems. This

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

90

It is here where the capitalist model begins to take the role of

a social pathogen, not only with respect to what it ignores, disallows or

fights against by design, but also with respect to what it reinforces and

perpetuates. If we go back to Locke's statement about how the nature

of money, given its tacit consent by the community, was to essentially

serve as a commodity in and of itself, it is easy to see how this once

mere “medium of exchange” has evolved into its present sociological

form, where the entire basis of the market serves, in fact, not with the

intent to create and assist with human survival, health and prosperity,

but to now merely facilitate the act of profit and profit alone.

Adam Smith never would have fathomed that in the present

day, the most lucrative, rewarded fields would be not the production of

life supporting/improving goods, but rather the act of moving money

around – hence the “work” of financial institutions such as banks,

“Wall St.” and investment firms – firms that literally create nothing,

but hold immense wealth and influence.

Today, the only real value theory in place is what could be

called the “money sequence of value”.

273

Money has taken on a life of

its own with respect to the reinforced psychology moving it. It has no

direct purpose in intent but to work to manifest more money out of

less money (investment).

This “money seeking money” phenomenon has not only

created a value system disorder where this interest in monetary gain

trumps everything, leaving truly relevant environmental and public

health issues secondary and “external” to the focus of economy, its

constant propensity to “multiply” and “expand” truly has a cancerous

quality where this idea of needed “growth”, rather than steady-state

balance, continues its pathological effect on many levels.

Much could be said about the debt system

274

and how virtually

all the countries on the planet earth are now indebted to themselves to

the extent where we, the human species, actually do not have the

money in circulation to pay ourselves back from what we have

borrowed out of thin air. The need for more and more “credit” to fuel

the “market” is constant today due to this imbalance, which means,

like cancer, we are dealing with an intent of infinite expansion and

consumption. This simply cannot work on a finite planet.

Furthermore, the scarcity-driven, competitive ethos inherent to

the model continues to perpetuate divisive class warfare that keeps

not only the world at war with itself via empire imperialism and

protectionism, but also within the general population. Today, most

walk around afraid of each other since exploitation and abuse is the

creates a perverse reinforcement to keep things the same – avoiding

change in general.

273 This phrase was put forward by John McMurtry in his work The Cancer

Stage of Capitalism, Pluto Press, 1999

274 The creation of money out of debt, coupled with its multiplication via the

Fractional Reserve lending system, a near universal practice of the central

banks of the world, continues to seek infinite growth by its very mechanics.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

91

dominant, rewarded ethos. All humans have adapted in this culture,

unnecessarily, to see each other as threats to one's own survival in

increasingly abstract “economic” contexts. For example, when two

people walk into a job interview, seeking life support, they are not

interested in the wellbeing of the other, since only one will gain the

job. In fact, empathic sensitivities are negative pressures in this

system of advantage and go completely unrewarded by the financial

mechanism.

Likewise, the assumption that “fairness” could ever exist in

such a competitive environment, particularly when the nature of

“winning” and “losing” means a loss of life support or survival, is a

deeply naïve ideal. The legal statutes in existence that work to stop

monopoly laws and financial “corruption” exist because there is literally

no built in safeguard for such so-called “corruption” in this model. As

implied by Smith and Veblen in this essay, the “state” is really a

manifestation of the economic premise and not the other way around.

The use of state power for legislation to ensure the security and

prosperity of one class over another, is not a distortion of the capitalist

system, it is a core feature of the free market competitive ethic.

Many in the libertarian, laissez-faire, Austrian school, Chicago

school and other neoclassical offshoots constantly tend to talk about

how “state interference” is the problem today, such as with having

protectionist import/export polices or the favoring of certain industries

by the state. It is assumed that somehow the market can be “free” to

operate without the manifestation of monopoly or the “corruptions”

inherent to what has been deemed today “crony capitalism”, even

though the entire basis of strategy is competitive or, in more direct

terms, “warring”. Again, to assume the State would not be used as a

tool for differential advantage – a tool for business – is absurd.

275

In the end, these overtly and unnecessarily selfish values have

been at the root of human conflict since their inception and, as noted,

the historical notion of human warfare on the class level is seen by

most as “given”, “natural” or “immutable”. In the existing social

model, extracted from an inherently scarcity-driven, xenophobic and

racist frame of reference, there is no such thing as peace or balance. It

simply isn't possible in the capitalist model. Likewise, the illusion of

equality between people in the so-called “democratic” societies also

persists, assuming that somehow political equality can manifest out of

the explicit, economic inequality inherent to this mode of production

and human relations.

Early in this essay the distinction between the “historical” and

“mechanistic” view of economic logic was mentioned in passing. The

275 It is worth pointing out that “market discipline”, or the corrective nature of

the market by which all business are supposed to be susceptible, only really

applies to the lower classes today. As noted historically by the “too big to

fail” rhetoric and recent (~2008) bank bailouts amounting to well over 20

trillion dollars, the wealthy sectors are protected by the gesture of so-called

given “Socialism”, not Capitalism.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

92

importance of the “mechanistic” (scientific) perspective, which will be

explored in later essays, is critical with respect to understanding how

deeply out of date and flawed the market economy really is. When we

take the known laws of nature, both on the human and habitat levels,

and start to calculate what our options and possibilities are,

technically, without the baggage of such historical assumptions, a very

different train of thought emerges. In the view of TZM, this is the new

worldview by which humanity needs to align in order to solve its

current, mounting sociological and ecological problems, along with

opening the door to enormous possibilities for future prosperity.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

93

-MARKET EFFICIENCY VS TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY-

The synergetic aspect of industry’s doing ever more work with ever less

investment of time and energy per each unit of performance...has never been

formally accounted as a capital gain of land-situated society. The synergistic

effectiveness of a world-around integrated industrial process is inherently vastly

greater than the confined synergistic effect of sovereignly operating separate

systems. Ergo, only complete world desovereignization can permit the

realization of an all humanity high standard support.

276

R. Buckminster Fuller

Overview

Scientific development, while evolving in parallel with traditional

economic development over the past 400 years or so, has still been

largely ignored and seen as an “externality” to economic theory. The

result has been a “decoupling” of the socioeconomic structure from the

life support structure to which we are all tied, and upon which we all

depend. In most cases today, apart from certain technical assumptions

with respect to how a system not based on market dynamics and the

“price mechanism”

277

could function, the most common argument in

support of market capitalism is that it is a system of “freedom” or

“liberty”.

The extent to which this is true very much depends on one's

interpretation, even though such generalized terms are often

ubiquitous in the rhetoric of proponents of the model.

278

It appears

such notions are really reactions to prior attempts at alternative social

systems in the past that generated power problems like

“totalitarianism”.

279

Hence, ever since, based on this fear, any model

conceived outside of the capitalist framework is often impulsively

relegated to the supposed historical tendency towards “tyranny” - and

then dismissed.

Be that as it may, this underlying gesture of “freedom”,

whatever its implication in subjective use, has generated a neurosis or

confusion with respect to what it means for a species such as ours to

survive and prosper in the habitat – a habitat clearly governed by

natural laws. What we find is that on the level of our habitat

276 Source: Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, R. Buckminster Fuller,

1968, Chapter 6

277 Ludwig von Mises in his famous work Economic Calculation In The Socialist

Commonwealth argues that the “price mechanism” is the only possible

means to understand how to “efficiently” create and move goods around an

economy. This criticism of any kind of “planned” system has been touted as

sacrosanct by many today and a vindication of the Capitalist system. This

issue will be addressed in part III.

278 Reference: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,

Adam Smith, 1776, par. IV.9.51

279 A classic text that employed this basic fear was F.A. Hayek's The Road to

Serfdom. “Human nature” had a very clear implication, justified

fundamentally by historical trends of totalitarianism suggested as linked to

collaborative/planned economies.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

94

relationship we are simply not free and to have an overarching value

orientation of supposed freedom, which is then applied toward how we

should operate our global economy, has become increasingly

dangerous to human sustainability on the planet earth.

280

The difficultly of social relationships aside, humans, regardless of

their traditional social customs, are strictly bound by the natural,

governing laws of the earth and to stray from alignment with these is

to invariably inhibit our sustainability, prosperity and public health. It

should be remembered that the core assumptions of our current

socioeconomic system developed during periods with substantially less

scientific awareness of both our habitat and ourselves.

281

Many of the

negative consequences now common to modern societies simply didn't

exist in the past and it is now this clash of systems that is further

destabilizing our world in many ways.

It will be argued here that the integrity of any economic model is

actually best measured by how well aligned it is with the known,

governing laws of nature. This natural law concept is not presented

here as anything esoteric or metaphysical, but as fundamentally

observable. While it is true that the laws of nature are constantly

refined and altered in our understandings over time, certain causal

realities have stood, and continue to stand, as definitively true.

There is no debate that the human organism has specific needs

for survival, such as the need for nutrition, water and air. There is no

debate with respect to the fundamental ecological processes that

secure the environmental stability of our habitat that must go

undisturbed in their symbiotic-synergistic relationships.

282

There is also

no debate, as complex as it is, that the human psyche has, on

average, basic predictable reactions when it comes to environmental

stressors and hence how reactions of violence, depression, abuse and

other detrimental behavioral issues can manifest as a result.

283

This scientific, causal or technical perspective of economic

relationships reduces all relevant factors to a frame of reference and

train of thought relating to our current understanding of the physical

280 Reference: “A Safe Operating Space for Humanity”, Nature, 461, 472-475,

24 September 2009, doi:10.1038/461472a;

281 While some historians often place the dawn of the scientific method in

ancient Greece, The Renaissance, starting around the 16

th

century, appears

to be a major period of significant discovery and acceleration. Galileo (1564

- 1642) is considered today by some as the “father” of modern science.

However, these emerging understandings shared very little interest in the

economic realm.

282 The disruption of ecosystem processes by human action has shown clear

negative consequences. Pollution, deforestation, loss of biodiversity and

many other common characteristics of the current state of the world today

reveals a deep misalignment with the immutable symbiotic/synergistic

realities of our habitat to which we are bound.

Reference:

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/kling/e

cosystem/ecosystem.html

283 See the essay Defining Public Health.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

95

world and its natural, tangible dynamics. This logic takes the science of

human study, hence, again, the shared nature of human needs and

public health, and combines it with the proven rules of our habitat, to

which we are synergistically and symbiotically connected. Put together,

a “ground up”, rational model of economic operation can be

generalized with very little need, in fact, for the centuries of

traditionalized economic theory.

284

This isn't to say those historical arguments do not possess value

with respect to understanding cultural evolution, but rather to say that

if a truly scientific worldview is taken with respect to what “works” or

“doesn’t work” in the strategy of efficiency demanded by the chess-

game of human survival, there is very little need for such historical

reference in abstraction. This view sits at the core of TZM's reformist

logic and will be reviewed again in part III of this text.

The bottom line is that these points of near-immutable scientific

awareness are almost completely without recognition in the economic

model dominant today. In fact, it will be argued that the two systems

are not only decoupled, they are diametrically opposed in many ways,

alluding to the reality that the competitive market economy is actually

not “fixable” as a whole, and hence a new system based directly on

these “natural law” realties needs to be constructed from the ground

up.

This essay will examine and contrast a series of “economic”

considerations from both the perspective of the market system

(market logic) and this noted mechanistic or “technical” logic. It will

express how “efficiency” takes on two very different meanings in each

perspective, arguing that “market efficiency”

285

works only to be

efficient with respect to itself, using man-made rule-sets related

mostly to classical economic dynamics that facilitate profit and growth,

while “Technical Efficiency”, referencing the known laws of nature,

seeks the most optimized manner of industrial unfolding possible to

preserve the habitat, reduce waste and ultimately ensure public

health, based on emerging scientific understandings.

286

Cyclical Consumption & Economic Growth

Market capitalism in basic operation can be generalized as an

interaction between owners, laborers and consumers. Consumer

demand generates the need to produce via the owners (capitalists),

who then employ laborers to perform the act of production. This cycle

essentially originates with “demand” and hence the real engine of the

market is the interest, ability and act of everyone buying in the market

284 See the essay History of Economy

285 The use of the term “market efficiency” here is not to be confused with

other historical meanings. The concept is novel to this essay. Traditional

meaning:

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/02/101502.asp#axzz2H9lWlQwR

286 The term 'economy' in Greek [Oikonomia] means "management of a

household - thrift”; Hence to e·con·o·mize, or “increase efficiency”.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

96

place. All recessions/depressions

287

are a result, on one level or

another, of a loss of sales. Therefore the most critical necessity for

keeping people employed and hence keeping the economy in a state of

“stability“ or “growth” is constant, cyclical consumption.

Economic growth, which is generally defined as “an increase in

the capacity of an economy to produce goods and services, compared

from one period of time to another”

288

is a constant interest of any

national economy today and, consequently, the global economy in

general. Many macroeconomic tactics are often used during times of

recession to facilitate more loans, production and consumption in order

to keep an economy functioning at or ideally beyond its current

level.

289

The business cycle, a period of oscillating expansion and

contraction, has long been recognized as a characteristic of the market

economy due to the nature of “market discipline”, or correction, which,

according to theorists, is partly a natural ebb and flow of business

successes and failures.

290

In short, the rate (increase or decrease) of consumption is what

generates the business cycle's periods of growth or contraction, with

macroeconomic monetary regulation generally increasing and

decreasing ease of liquidity (often via interest rates) in order to

“manage” the expansions and contractions. While modern, monetary

macroeconomic policy is not the subject of this essay, it is worth

pointing out here, as an aside, that mutual respect toward both the

expansion and contraction periods of the business cycle has not

existed historically. Periods of monetary expansion (often via cheaper

credit) that usually correlate to periods of economic expansion (as

more money is being put to use) are hailed by the citizenry as national

successes for society, while all contractions are seen as policy failures.

Therefore, there has always been an interest by the political

establishments (who want to look good) and major, influential market

institutions (protecting corporate profits) to preserve periods of

expansion for as long as possible and fight all forms of contraction.

This perspective is natural to the value system inherent to capitalism

for “pain” is to be thwarted at all times, often in a shortsighted

287 Recessions are typically defined as "a significant decline in economic

activity spread across the economy.”

(http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/08/cause-of-

recession.asp#axzz2HzEmQsvq)

288 'Economic growth' defined:

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/economicgrowth.asp#axzz2H9lWlQw

R

289 A common reaction of central banks during times of recession is to increase

“liquidity” in the economy. Liquidity is simply the amount of capital that is

available for investment and spending. The Federal Reserve, the central

bank of the United States, typically manages liquidity, by adjusting interest

rates.

290 The 'business cycle' is often thought about in five stages: growth

(expansion), peak, recession (contraction), trough and recovery.

(http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/businesscycle.asp#axzz2IGANj1hr)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

97

manner. No company willingly wants to downsize nor does any political

party willingly want to “look bad”, even though traditional economic

theory tells us that these periods of contraction are “natural” and

should be allowed.

The result has been, in short, a constant increase in the money

supply (i.e. purchasing power and capital) during times of recession,

with the end result being massive global debt, both public and

private.

291

The reality is that all money comes into existence through

loans and each of those loans is made with interest attached, where

the loan must be paid back with the interest fee accrued (bank's

profit); meaning that the very nature of money creation automatically

entails a negative balance by default. There is always more debt in

existence than there is money in circulation.

292

So, returning to the main point with respect to the need for

demand/consumption to keep the economy working, this process of

exchange and general focus on growth is at the heart of the market's

context of “efficiency”. It doesn’t matter what is being produced or the

effect on the state of human or earthly affairs. Those are all, again,

“externalities”. As a concentrated example of this logic, the stock

market, which is itself nothing more than the trading of money and its

now numerous "derivatives", generates enormous GDP and "growth"

through resultant sales/profit.

293

Yet, these acts arguably produce nothing of tangible, life

supporting value. The stock market system and the now massively

powerful financial institutions are completely auxiliary to the real,

producing economy. While many argue that these investment

institutions facilitate businesses and jobs with their application of

capital, this act is, once again, only systemically relevant in the current

system (market efficiency) and utterly irrelevant in terms of real

production (technical efficiency).

291 According to a 2010 report by the World Economics Forum, global credit (or

in effect, debt) doubled from $57 trillion to $109 trillion from 2000 to 2010.

It also forecasts $210 trillion in global credit (debt) by 2020.

(http://www.weforum.org/reports/sustainable-credit-report-2011)

292 According to the Federal Reserve, as of 2009 total US (Public and Private)

debt was about $51

trillion.(https://www.federalreserve.gov/datadownload/Download.aspx?rel=

Z1&series=654245a7abac051cc4a9060c911e1fa4&filetype=csv&label=inclu

de&layout=seriescolumn&from=01/01/1945&to=12/31/2010) If we

compare this to the existing money supply, as measured by M3, which is

the broadest measure, we find that as of Dec. 2012 it was about $15

trillion.* (http://www.shadowstats.com/charts/monetary-base-money-

supply) *Note: M3 has been discontinued in reporting by the US. However,

its numbers can be extrapolated based on component measures.

293 For example, in the US, the “venture capital” industry, which essential

invests money in new businesses, was 21% of GDP in 2010.

(http://www.nvca.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25

5&Itemid=103) According to a 2012 article in The New Republic: “the

largest six banks in our (us) economy now have total assets in excess of

63% of GDP” (http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/shooting-banks#)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

98

In short, when it comes to market logic, the more turnover or

sales, the better - and that is that - regardless if the item sold is

credit, rocks, “hope” or flapjacks. Any pollution, instances of waste or

other such detriments are, again, “external”. There is no consideration

for the technical role of actual production processes, strategies for

efficient distribution, design applications or the like. Such factors are

assumed to culminate metaphysically in the best interest of the people

and the habitat simply because that is what the “invisible hand”

294

of

the market implies.

Yet, the growing “more with less”

295

revolution in the industrial

sciences has created a new reality where the advancement of

industrial technology has reversed the pattern of “cumulative material

effort” with respect to efficiency. The logic that “more labor, more

energy and more resources” will produce proportionally more effective

results has been challenged. In increasingly more circumstances, the

reduction of energy, labor and materials to accomplish certain tasks

has been the outcome, given our modern scientific, technical

applications.

296

For instance, satellite-based communication today, while

intellectually sophisticated, embodying a great deal of evolved

knowledge, is, in physical reality, rather simple and resource efficient

in comparison to the prior alternatives for communication, which in

global application, involved enormous amounts of cumbersome

materials, such as heavy copper wires, along with the difficult, often

risky task of laying out such materials by human labor power. What is

accomplished today with a set of generally small, global satellites in

orbit is truly amazing by comparison. This design revolution, which

gets to the heart of what true economic (technical) efficiency means,

stands in direct opposition to the cyclical consumption, growth-based

economic model.

Again, the intention of the market system is to maintain or

elevate rates of turnover, as this is what keeps people employed and

increases employment and so-called growth. Hence, at its core, the

market's entire premise of efficiency is based around tactics to

accomplish this and hence any force that works to reduce the need for

labor or turnover is considered “inefficient” from the view of the

market, even though it might be very efficient in terms of the true

294 See the essay History of Economy where Adam Smith's notion of the

“invisible hand” is discussed.

295 As an historical note, engineer R. Buckminster Fuller used this phrase

(“more with less”) in his discussion of the phenomenon in his work

“Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth”, 1968

296 The famous ENIAC computer of the 1940s contained 17,468 vacuum tubes,

along with 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 1,500 relays, 6,000 manual

switches and 5 million soldered joints. It covered 1800 square feet of floor

space, weighed 30 tons, and consumed 160 kilowatts of electrical power. It

cost about $6 Million in modern value. Today, a cheap, pocket size cell

phone computes substantially faster than ENIAC.

(http://inventors.about.com/od/estartinventions/a/Eniac.htm)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

99

definition of economy itself, which means to conserve, reduce waste

and do more with less.

If we hypothetically reduced our global society to a single, small

island with a respectively small population, with very limited

technology as compared to today, finding that only x number of

food/survival items were possible in the natural regeneration of the

land, would it be a good idea to employ an economic system that

sought to increase the use and turnover of the island's resources as

fast as possible for the sake of “growth”? Naturally, the ethic of

strategic use and preservation would develop as an ethos in such a

condition. The idea would be to reduce waste, not accelerate it, which,

again, is what the true definition of “economy” means – to economize.

Unnecessary Obsolescence: Competitive and Planned

When we think of obsolescence, we often might consider the rapid

technological changes occurring in the world today. Every few years it

seems our communication and processing devices, namely computer

technology, undergo rapid development. “Moore's Law”, for example,

which essentially denotes how processing power doubles every 18-24

months, has been extended to apply to other, similar technological

applications, illuminating the powerful trend of scientific advancement

in general.

297

However, when it comes to goods production, two forms of

(eventual) obsolescence occur today which are not based on the

natural evolution of technological capacity, but rather result from (a)

the contrived, competitive rule structure of the market system, along

with (b) the driving urge for market “efficiency” in seeking turnover

and reoccurring profit.

The first (a) could be called “competitive (or intrinsic)

obsolescence”. This is obsolescence resulting from the consequential

nature of a competitive economy, as each producing entity works to

maintain differential advantage over another by reducing expenses in

production in order to keep the price “competitively” low for consumer

purchase. This mechanism is traditionally termed “cost efficiency” and

the result is products that are relatively inferior the moment they are

made. This competitive need permeates every step of production,

with, in effect, a reduction of technical efficiency along the way via

using cheaper materials, means and designs.

Imagine, hypothetically, if we took into account all of the

material requirements for, say, the creation of a car, seeking to

maximize its efficiency, durability and quality in the most strategically

optimized way, based on the materials themselves - not the cost of

those materials.

298

The life cycle of the car would then be determined

297 Reference: The Law of Accelerating Returns, Ray Kurzweil

(http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-law-of-accelerating-returns)

298 The notion of “strategically optimized” will be addressed in part III but it is

worth noting here that the equation which decides what is to be used in the

construction of anything, technically, not only involves the properties of the

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

100

only by its natural wear and tear with a very deliberate design focus

on upgrading attributes of the car when they have become obsolete or

damaged by natural-use circumstances.

The result would be a production designed to last, hence

reducing waste and invariably increasing efficacy of utility. It is safe to

assume that many in the world today believe this is what actually

happens in the design and production of goods but that simply isn't

the reality. It is mathematically impossible for any competing company

to produce the strategically best good, technically, in a market

economy, as the “cost efficiency” mechanism guarantees a less-than-

optimal production.

The second form (b) of obsolescence is known as “planned” and

this production technique to ensure cyclical consumption gained

interest in the early 20

th

century when industrial development was

advancing efficiency at an accelerating rate, producing better goods,

faster. In fact, there was not only a need to encourage more

purchases by the general public,

299

the problem of resulting increased

lifespan and general efficiency of goods was also slowing consumption.

Again, the “more with less” phenomenon was surfacing in a rapid way.

Rather than allow for a good's lifespan to be determined by its

natural capacity, with the logical natural law intention for it to exist as

long as possible, given limited resources on a finite planet and a

natural interest to save energy, both material and human,

corporations decided it was instead best to create their own “lifespan”

for goods, deliberately inhibiting efficiency for the sake of repeat

purchases.

300

In the 1930s, some even wanted to make it mandatory for all

industries, legally, where life cycles were decided not by the natural

state of technological ability but by the mere ongoing need for labor

and increased consumption. In fact, the most notable historical

example of this period was the Phoebus light bulb cartel of the 1930s

where, in a time where light bulbs were able to last up to about

25,000 hours, the cartel forced each company to restrict light bulb life

to less than 1000 hours to assure repeat purchases.

301

Today, every

“ideal” materials, but the relative utility of related materials (with similar

properties) which may alter the necessary material component for use due

to other “efficiency” related factors, such as resource supply.

299 Charles Kettering, Director of General Motors in 1929, wrote of the need to

'keep the consumer dissatisfied' (1929)

(http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/archive/resources/documents/c

h27_02.htm). Wall Street banker Paul Mazur wrote: "We must shift America

from a needs to a desires culture. People must be trained to desire…to want

new things even before the old have been entirely consumed. We must

shape a new mentality in America." (Harvard Business Review, 1927)

300 In 1932, industrialist Bernard London propagated a well-known pamphlet

entitled Ending the Depression through Planned Obsolescence, which

outlined the need for the model.

301 Reference: Planned Obsolescence: The Light Bulb Conspiracy, ESSA, 2012

(http://economicstudents.com/2012/09/planned-obsolescence-the-light-

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

101

major manufacturer strategizes to limit good life cycles based on

marketing models for cyclical consumption and the result is not only

the reprehensible waste of finite resources, but a constant waste of

human labor and energy as well.

Outside the dynamics of the market economy, it is extremely

difficult to argue against the need for optimum design of goods. Sadly,

the nature of market efficiency disallows such technical efficiency by

default.

Property vs. Access

The tradition of personal property has become a staple of modern

culture with little financial incentive in the long run to utilize a system

of sharing or access. While a few examples of community sharing of

commodities do exist in the modern day,

302

the general ethic of

“ownership” and the inherent value/investment characteristics of

property itself make such approaches more costly in the long run by

the user than to engage in direct purchase.

From the standpoint of market efficiency, this is a good thing, as

the more direct purchases of goods, the better. Generally speaking, if

100 people wish to drive a car, having 100 people purchase those cars

is more “efficient” for the market than if 100 people shared 20 cars in

a system of strategically designed access, enabling utilization based on

actual use time.

If we analyze patterns of actual use of any given good on

average, many types of products are found to be used intermittently.

Transport vehicles, recreational equipment, project equipment and

various other genres of goods are commonly accessed at relatively

distant intervals, making the task of ownership not only somewhat of

an inconvenience given the need to store these items, but also clearly

inefficient in the context of true economic integrity, which seeks a

reduction of waste at all times.

Every year, countless books are borrowed virtually for free from

libraries around the world and returned, not only saving an enormous

amount of material resources over time, but also facilitating

knowledge access to those who might otherwise have no means to

obtain it. Yet, this practice is a rare exception in the market efficiency

driven world today as clearly it is to the disadvantage of the market to

have anything available without direct purchase on a per-person

basis.

303

However, let's hypothetically extend this idea of the sharing of

bulb-conspiracy/)

302 As a simple example, the sharing of bikes in Europe has become common.

(http://www.treehugger.com/cars/bike-sharing-now-in-100-european-

cities.html)

303 As an aside, the only reason this library exception has persisted is because

of a tradition put in place long ago that saw the need for this sharing of

knowledge as critical to human development. The tradition of shared

libraries goes back 1000s of years.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

102

knowledge to the sharing (enabled access) of material goods. From the

standpoint of market efficiency, it would be extremely inhibiting. While

profit would still be generated in the capitalist model by the loaning of

items to people on the basis of their need, it would be enormously

disproportionate when compared to the profit/consumption rates of a

society based on separate, personal ownership of each good.

Yet, on the other hand, the technical efficiency would be

profound. Not only would fewer resources need to be utilized (along

with less labor power) since less of each good would need to be

created to meet the use time of citizens, the availability of such goods

could very well extend to many who otherwise would not have the

ability to afford the purchase to begin with, only the “rental” fee (still

assuming a market system). In this regard, the technical efficiency has

two levels – environmental and social. From the environmental

standpoint, a dramatic reduction of resource use; from the social

standpoint (all things being equal), an increase in the access

availability of such goods could also occur.

So, from the standpoint of technical efficiency, at the deep

expense of market efficiency, a shared access rather than universal

property oriented society would be exceptionally more sustainable and

beneficial. Of course, such a practice would naturally challenge some

deep value identifications common to the “propertied” culture today.

304

Competition vs. Collaboration

The question of society pursuing a competitive or collaborative culture

has been a running debate for centuries, with assumptions of human

nature common to the defense of competition.

305

Today, economists

mostly discuss competition as an incentive necessary to continue

innovation,

306

along with the generally implied assumption that there

simply isn’t enough to go around on this planet and hence everyone

has no choice but to fight on some level, with inevitable losers.

307

Such

304 In his work, The Age of Access, Jeremy Rifkin poses similar questions,

stating, “In a society where virtually everything is accessed, however, what

happens to the personal pride, obligation, and commitment that go with

ownership? And what of self-sufficiency? Being propertied goes hand in

hand with being independent. Property is the means by which we gain a

sense of personal autonomy in the world. When we access the means of our

existence, we become far more reliant on others. While we become more

connected and interdependent, do we risk at the same time becoming less

self-sufficient and more vulnerable?” (P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2000, p.130)

305 Reference: The Influence of Social Hierarchy on Primate Health, Robert M.

Sapolsky, Science 29 April 2005: Vol. 308 no. 5722 pp. 648-652 DOI:

10.1126/science.1106477

(http://www.sciencemag.org/content/308/5722/648.abstract)

306 Reference: on traditional defenses of competition as a source of innovation:

Competition and Innovation: An Inverted U Relationship

(http://www.nber.org/papers/w9269)

307 See the prior essay, History of Economy, and its treatment in Thomas

Malthus, who viewed the world as unable to support the population and was

influential in his view.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

103

assumptions noted, the themed context here of market vs. technical

efficiency shall be explored with respect to the competitive benefits

and/or consequences.

There are two core angles to consider: the first is (a) how

competition affects industrial production itself; the second is (b) how it

actually effects innovation or creative development.

(a) If we examine the layout of industrial production today, we see a

complex global system of interaction, moving resources, components

and goods constantly from one location to another for various

production or distribution purposes. Business, in its pursuit of profit

and cost efficiency, invariably seeks out inexpensive labor, equipment

and facilities at all times to remain competitive in the market. This can

take the form of local immigrant labor at minimum wage, a

“sweatshop” production facility overseas, a relatively cheap processing

factory across the country, etc.

The bottom line is that from the standpoint of market efficiency,

the cost-to-profit ratio is all that matters, even if the actual act of this

global processing is using disproportionately wasteful amounts of fuel,

transport resources, labor power and the like.

308

The notion of

“proximal efficiency”, meaning in this case the efficiency derived from

the distance between industrial production/distribution points, is not

considered and the practice of globalization today engages in a vast

amount of wasteful resource movement around the world based

almost entirely on the interest of saving money, not optimal, technical

efficiency.

This ignoring of the importance of “proximal efficiency” in

industrial action, whether domestic or international, is the source of

some very wasteful realities. Today, industrial production is almost

entirely international, especially in the technological age. The degree

to which this is needed, from a technical perspective, is slight, at best.

While agricultural production has historically been regional given

the propensity of certain regions to produce certain types of goods, or

perhaps facilitate a more conducive environment for other such

cultivations, these issues are very few in proportion to the vast

majority of industrial goods production, discounting as well various

technological possibilities today to overcome such regional

requirements.

309

308 Canadian economist Jeff Rubin made this observation well with respect to

oil cost trends: "What we're going to find is it's not going to make sense to

produce things on the other side of the world, no matter how cheap labor

costs are there, when it's so expensive to transport things."

(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104466911)

309 This is mentioned in passing to point out the extensive modern

breakthroughs in agricultural methods that are not based on traditional

arable landmasses. “Vertical farming”, for example, has been shown to have

immense possibilities on a global scale, removing the common regional

restrictions to agricultural production. Suggested Reading: The Vertical

Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century, Dickson Despommier, Thomas

Dunne Books, 2010

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

104

“Localization”, meaning the deliberate reduction of distance

between and around all facets of production and distribution, is the

most technically efficient manner for a community to operate, taking

into account the obvious exceptions, such as how, for example,

mineral extraction clearly must begin at its point of origin in the earth,

etc. It is simple to see, especially with respect to modern technical

applications which currently go unused, how the vast majority of life-

sustaining goods can be generated in close proximity overall to where

they are to be utilized.

As will be described in further detail in part III of this text, there

is a technically efficient train of thought with respect to the utilization

of proximity when it comes to extraction, production, distribution and

recycling/waste disposal. The end result would be enormous levels of

resource and human energy preservation – preservation of a capacity

that, in fact, could be reallocated if need be to further advancing

projects, rather than squandered as mere waste via the market model

today.

310

As a final note on this subject of how competition limits the

technical efficiency of industrial production, increasing waste - the

reality of good “multiplicity” is another issue. While all production by

competing companies is typically oriented around historical statistics

regarding what their “market share” is and how many goods they can

sell on average, per region, the very fact of multiple corporations,

working in the same genre of good production, producing nearly

identical products with only mild variation, only adds to the sources of

unnecessary waste.

As will also be described in the next sub-section, the idea of, for

example, multiple cell phone companies competing for market share

by mere design variation, generating consequentially relative

inefficiencies in design due to different strategies to gain cost

efficiency, coupled with the general lack of compatibility of

components given the financial benefit of pushing proprietary

standards and system compatibilities, creates another complex web of

inefficiency.

311

Clearly, from the standpoint of technical efficiency, one collective

cell phone company, working to produce the strategically best, most

adaptable, universally compatible design, would not only be more

310 It is critical to note, as will be discussed in part III, that this notion of

turning the inefficiency or wasted resources and energy inherent to the

market economy into actual productivity sits at the core of human society's

ability not only to transcend the scarcity-ridden environment we have today,

but far exceed it with an abundance.

311 The closest thing today that attempts to overcome the problems and waste

generated by proprietary components, meaning components that can only

come from the manufacturer, is the ISO Standard System. However, this

system, in reality, does very little to overcome the true problem and is

mostly about compliance with basic quality standards, not universal

adaptability of components across global industry. (Ref:

http://www.iso.org/iso/home.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

105

respectful of the environment, it would also create a tremendous ease

and use efficiency as well since the problem of seeking proprietary

repair parts and overcoming compatibility problems, would be

dramatically reduced.

It is often argued, however, that the pursuit of competition and

the product variations that arise in the quest for market share by

competing businesses is a way to introduce new ideas to the public.

However, such a method could also be achieved by systems of direct,

mass feedback from the public with respect to what is needed, coupled

with an emergent awareness campaign about what is now possible

given the empirical evolution of technological advancement.

(b) The second issue here, as noted, has to do with how competition

affects innovation or creative development itself. While the assumption

still persists today that differential reward for one's contribution

motivates other people to seek that reward, which is also a common

justification of the existence of “classes”, modern sociological study

finds a number of conflicting views.

312

The idea that humans are

motivated inherently by a need to “beat” others by, for example,

gaining material-financial rewards in excess of others, is without

credible vindication, outside of the intuitive view drawn from the

existing, highly competitive, scarcity driven market condition in which

humanity finds itself today, by design.

However, once again, the sociological debate can be set aside as

the context here is how competition relates to market & technical

efficiency directly. In short, the competitive system seeks secrecy

when it comes to business ideas, often universally against the open

flow of knowledge. The use of patents and proprietary rights or “trade

secrets” perpetuates not an advance of innovation as many

proponents of the competitive market assume – but retardation.

It is very interesting to think about what knowledge means, how

it is generated and how odd it is for anyone to rationally claim

“ownership” of an idea or invention. At no time in human history has

any singular individual culminated an idea that was not serially

generated by many before them. The historical culmination of

knowledge is a social process and therefore, any claim of ownership of

an idea by a person or corporation is intrinsically faulty. The common

semi-economic term used today is “usufruct”, which means “the legal

right of using and enjoying the fruits or profits of something belonging

to another.“

313

In reality, however, all attributes of every idea in

existence today, in the past and forever in the future, has without

exception a distinctly social, not personal point of origin.

It becomes obvious that the notion of intellectual property,

meaning ownership of mere thoughts and ideas, has manifest out of

312 Reference: No Contest: The Case Against Competition, Alfie Kohn, Boston,

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986

313 Source: Merriam-Webster.com (http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/usufruct)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

106

the vast period of human history where one's creativity has become

tied to one's personal survival. In an economic system where people's

ideas have the capacity to generate income for them personally, the

idea of such ownership becomes relevant. After all, if you “invent”

something in the modern system which could generate sales and

hence help your personal economic survival, it would be extremely

inefficient, in the market sense of the word, to allow that idea to be

“open-source”, since others, seeking survival themselves, would likely

quickly seize that invention for their own financial exploitation.

It is also easy to see how the phenomenon of “ego” has manifest

around the idea of intellectual ownership as well, since the basis of

reward in such a system invariably has a psychological tie to one's

personal sense of self-worth. If a person “invents” something, files for

intellectual ownership, exploits it for profit and then manifests a large

house and extensive property, his or her “status” as a human being is

traditionally elevated as far as the standards set by culture – he/she is

considered a “success”.

Yet, if we were to think about it in general, the sharing of

knowledge has no negative recourse outside of the economic premise

of ownership for profit exploitation. There is nothing to lose and,

indeed, an enormous amount to be gained socially by the sharing of

information. Coming back to the prior example in this essay of

competing cell phone companies, we will notice that within the

confines of boardroom meetings where often marketers, designers and

engineers consider how to improve their product in general, the

sharing of their ideas is paramount.

However, imagine if that meeting was extended to all competing

cell phone companies at once, where not only could they remove their

contrived, utility-less “marketing” angles devised to gain the market

share of other competitors (such as aesthetic gimmickry), they could

work to produce the cumulative “best” in concert. Extending even

more so, what if all designs were “public domain” in the sense that

anyone in the world who had an interest to help improve an idea was

able to?

The schematics of a cell phone design could be posted publicly

with a system of technical interaction where people from all around the

world could help, if they had the ability, with the technical efficiency

and utility of the design. While this is an abstract hypothetical

example, it is clear that the result of such an open approach to the

sharing of information could facilitate an explosion of creativity and

productivity never before witnessed. As will be discussed in Part III,

the removal of the monetary-market system is critical to the

facilitation of this capacity.

Labor for Income

At the core of the market system is the selling of an individual's labor

as a commodity. In many ways, the ability of the market to employ

the population has become a measure of its integrity. However, the

advent of “mechanization”, or the automation of human labor, has

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

107

become an ever-increasing point of interference over time.

314

Historically, the application of machine technology to labor has been

seen as an issue of not only social progress but also “economic”

progress, in the market sense, mainly due to the increase in

productivity.

The basic assumption is that mechanization (or more broadly

technological innovation) facilitates industrial expansion and hence an

inevitable reallocation of labor displaced by machine into new,

emerging sectors. This is a common defense.

315

Historically speaking,

there appears to be some truth to this, where the reduction of the

human work force in one sector, such as was the case with the

automation of agriculture in the West, has been overcome to a degree

by the advancement of other employment sectors, such as the modern

service sector. However, this assumption that technological innovation

will generate new forms of employment in tandem with those

displaced by it, creating an equilibrium, is actually very difficult to

defend when the rate of change of innovation, coupled with the cost

saving interests of business is taken into account.

316

314 A glance at US historical labor statistics by sector shows the pattern of

machine automation replacing human labor definitively. In the agricultural

sector, almost all traditional workflow is now done by machine. In 1949,

machines did 6% of the cotton picking in the South. By 1972, 100% of the

cotton picking was done by machines. [Source: The Cotton Harvester in

Retrospect: Labor Displacement or Replacement?, Willis Peterson, St Paul,

1991, pp 1-2] In 1860, 60% of America worked in agriculture, while today it

is less than 3%. (Source: Why job growth is Stalled, Fortune, 3/8/93 p.52)

In 1950, 33% of US workers worked in Manufacturing, while by 2002 there

was only 10%. (Source:http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2002-

12-12-manufacture_x.htm) The US steel industry, from 1982 to 2002

increased production from 75m tons to 120m tons, while steel workers went

from 289,000 to 74,000.(Source: Will ‘Made in the USA’ fade away?, Nelson

D. Schwartz, Fortune Nov 24th 2003, p. 102) In 2003, Alliance Capital did a

study of the world’s largest 20 economies at that time, ranging from the

period of 1995 to 2002, finding that 31 million manufacturing jobs were

lost, while production actually rose by 30%. (Source: US Weekly Economic

Update: Manufacturing Payrolls Declining Globally: The Untold Story,

Alliance Bernstein Oct 2003) This pattern of increasing productivity and

profit, coupled with decreasing employment, is a new and powerful

phenomenon.

315 See the subsection on economist David Ricardo in the essay: History of

Economy

316 Economist Stephen Roach warned in 1994, ”The service sector has lost its

role as America’s unbridled engine of job creation.” (Source: Interview,

3/15/94, noted in book The End of Work by Jeremy Rifkin, Penguin p.143)

Examples of this include: From 1983-1993, banks cut 37% of their human

tellers, and by the year 2000, 90% of all bank customers used teller

machines (ATMs) (Source: “Retooling Lives”, Vision, 2000 p. 43) Business

phone operators have almost all been replaced by computerized voice

answering systems, post office tellers are being replaced by self-service

machines, while cashiers are being replaced by computerized kiosks.

McDonalds, for example, has been talking about full automation of its

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

108

As for the latter, the “role” of mechanization from the standpoint

of market efficiency exists almost solely to assist “cost-efficiency”.

Robotics in the modern day have far exceeded the physical capacity of

the average human being, along with rapidly advancing calculation

processes which continue to vastly exceed human thought. The result

is the ability of industry to employ machines, which invariably have

more productive capacity than human labor, coupled with the

extremely notable financial incentive of reduced liability for the

business owners in many ways. While machines might require

maintenance, they do not need health insurance, unemployment

insurance, vacations, union protection and many other attributes

common to human employment today. Therefore, in the narrow logic

inherent to the pursuit of profit, it is only natural for businesses to

seek out mechanization at all times, given its long term cost benefits

and hence market efficiency.

As far as the suggestion that equilibrium will always be found

eventually between new labor roles and displaced labor due to

technological innovation, the problem is that the rate of change of

technological development far exceeds the rate of new job creation.

317

This problem is unique as it also assumes that human society would

always want new employment roles. It is here where subjective

cultural values should be considered. Given that our current

sociological condition demands human employment as the backbone of

market sustainability, hence market efficiency, the ethic of “work” and

its identity associations, culturally, have perpetuated a force where the

actual function of the labor role - its true utility - becomes less

important than the mere act of labor itself.

318

Just as market efficiency has no consideration for what is

actually being bought and sold in general, so long as it keeps cyclical

consumption at an acceptable rate, the labor roles taken on today in

production are equally as arbitrary in the view of the market. In

restaurants for many years now, introducing kiosks to replace the front of

house staff, while using automated cooking tools, such as burger flippers,

for the back of house staff. (Source:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20030801/1345236_F.shtmls) The fact

that they haven’t done so is likely a public relations issue, for they know

how many jobs would be cut in the event that such automation should be

adopted in the most uninhibited way..

317 Reference: The Law of Accelerating Returns, Ray Kurzweil

(http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-law-of-accelerating-returns) While the

context of this article regarding exponentially advancing technological

capacity does not reference mechanization, it is clearly axiomatic to assume

its relevance in this way, particularly with respect to what could be called

“cybernation”, which is the combination of machines and computers

distinctly, creating “intelligence” in machines.

318 The link between having a “job” and one's self-worth has become

increasingly powerful. Reference: Joblessness And Hopelessness: The Link

Between Unemployment And Suicide

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/unemployment-and-

suicide_n_849428.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

109

theory, we could envision a world where people are being paid to do

what could be considered “pointless” occupations, when it comes to

utility, generating high levels of GDP with virtually no true social

contribution. In fact, even today we could step back and ask ourselves

what the social role of many institutions really is and perhaps come to

the conclusion that they serve only to keep moving money around, not

to create or actually contribute anything tangible for the benefit of

society.

These are complex philosophical questions as they challenge

dominant traditional ethics and the very nature of what “progress”

really means in many ways. For instance, the following thought

exercise is worth considering. Imagine if we were to revert our social

system back to the 16

th

century, where many modern (21

st

century)

technological realities were simply unheard of. The population of that

era would naturally have expectations of what would be technically

possible that would be far below what is generally accepted as possible

today.

If this society was able to superimpose, overnight, the massive

technological capacity of the modern era, there is little doubt that

virtually everything related to the core survival of the population could

be automated. The question then becomes, what do they now do with

their newfound freedom? What becomes the cultural focus of their

lives if the basic drudgery of fundamental survival was removed? Do

they invent new jobs simply because they can? Do they elevate

themselves, preserving and embodying this new freedom by altering

their social system itself, removing this previously demanded “labor for

income” requirement? These questions get to the root of what

progress and personal/social goals and success really are.

Nevertheless, a dominant cultural value today is that of “earning

a living”, and the application of mechanization, in the sense of market

efficiency is actually a double-edged sword. While cost-efficiency is

inherent to mechanization and hence the general improvement of

profit by reducing costs for the business owners, the displacement of

human workers, known today as “technological unemployment”,

actually works against market efficiency to the extent that those

unemployed workers are now unable to contribute to the needed

cyclical consumption that powers the economy, since they have lost

their purchasing power as “consumers”.

This contradiction within the capitalist model is unique. From the

stand point of market efficiency, mechanization hence poses both a

positive and negative outcome in this sense and when we realize that

the rate of technological change will, in all probability, displace people

increasingly faster than new sectors of employment can be created,

mechanization as an inhibiting factor to capitalism becomes ever more

apparent. It is, in total, decreasing market efficiency in this

circumstance.

However, on the other hand, from the standpoint of technical

efficiency, once again, we see vast improvement and immense

possibilities on many levels. The production capacity enabled by this

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

110

application clearly shows a powerful increase in efficiency regarding

not only the effect of industrial production, but also a general

increased efficiency of the goods themselves by extension of the

accuracy and integrity inherent in production. Also, an implication of

this new level of production efficiency is that meeting the needs of the

global population was never more possible. It is easy to see that

without the interference of market logic on this new technical capacity,

which invariably inhibits its full potential, what could be relatively

deemed an “abundance” of most life sustaining goods could be

facilitated for the global population.

319

Scarcity vs. Abundance

“Supply and demand” is a common market relationship which

expresses, in part, how the value of a resource or good is proportional

to how much of it is in existence or accessible. For example, diamonds

are considered quantitatively more rare and hence of higher value

than water, which can be found in a general abundance on the planet.

Likewise, certain human creations, if created in short supply, are also

subject to this dynamic, even if the perception of rarity is culturally

subjective, such as with a single canvas painting by a renowned artist

which might fetch many, many times its actual resource value in a

sale.

320

From the standpoint of market efficiency, general scarcity is a

good thing overall. While extreme scarcity is, indeed, destabilizing

both for an industry or an economy as a whole (“shortages”), the most

optimized state within which the market system can exist is in a sort

of balanced scarcity pressure, hence the assurance of sales-producing

demand. Again, the life requirements of humans are not recognized in

this equation.

Meeting human needs in the form of food, housing, low-stress

circumstances for mental health, etc., is utterly “external” here and

has no direct relationship to market efficiency. Meeting human needs

in a direct sense would, again, be inefficient to the market's logic as it

would remove the scarcity pressure that fuels cyclical consumption.

Put another way, there is a need for imbalance in order to fuel this

demand pressure and this imbalance can come in many forms.

Debt, for example, is a form of imposed scarcity which puts a

319 This is not a utopian concept as very basic statistical extrapolations prove

this vast improvement of efficiency and production capacity on many levels.

A simple example, while not exhaustive in its variables, is the obsolescence

of “work hours” in industrial factory production. The 8-hour day common to

human labor could manifest to nearly 24-hour labor via machine

automation. This crude example shows how ”abundance” can be created of

core life supporting goods.

320 Edvard Munch's painting “The Scream” sold for $119 million in 2012. If we

were to compare the actual material value of the work in physical form, it

was sold for about 10-15,000 times its material value in paint and canvas.

(http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/05/03/edvard-munchs-the-scream-

_n_1473129.html?ref=uk-culture)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

111

person in a position to which they must often submit to labor which

may be of a more “exploitative” nature – meaning the reward (usually

the wage) is grossly disproportionate to what is needed to keep a

healthy standard of living in one's circumstance. In this respect, the

debt system facilitates a distinct form of market efficiency as it

benefits the employer since the ease of lowering wage rates (cost

efficiency) naturally increases as private debt levels increase.

The more in debt people are, the more likely they will submit to

low wage labor and hence generate more profit for the business

owners. In fact, the same logic can be applied to the use of legally

unregulated “sweatshop” labor in the third world, which is frequently

“exploited” by Western companies. Excessive work hours coupled with

notoriously low wages are common - yet these people have literally no

choice but to submit as there are no other options for survival in their

region, often due to debt resulting from austerity measures.

321

In fact, the regulation of the money supply in total is based on a

general scarcity since, as noted before, all money today is made out of

debt and this debt-money is sold into the market as a commodity

through “loans”, with the mark-up of interest attached to generate a

profit for the banks. Yet, this “interest” profit, which is money itself, is

not created in the money supply itself. For instance, if an individual

takes out a loan for 100 dollars and pays 5% interest on the loan, that

individual is required to pay back 105 dollars. But, in an economy

where all money comes into existence through loans, which is the

reality, only the “principal” ($100) exists in the money supply with the

“interest income” ($5) uncreated.

Therefore, there is always more debt in existence than there is

money to pay for it. Furthermore, since the poor are responsible for

taking more loans in general for their home/cars/etc. than the

wealthy, who maintain a financial surplus, this overall debt pressure

tends to fall on the lower classes, compounding the inherently

insurmountable problem of being in debt and hence with limited

options. In this model, bankruptcy, for example, is not a result of

some poor business judgments - it is an inevitable consequence - like

a game of “musical chairs”.

322

So, coming back to the central point, the reality of scarcity in

the current economic system is a source of great efficiency in the

market sense for if people had their basic needs met, or if they were

able to meet those needs without the external pressure of irresolvable

debt which keeps the imbalances - cyclical consumption, profit and

growth would suffer. As insidious as it may seem to our intuition and

humanity, that keeping people deprived is actually a positive

precondition for the workings of the market, this is the reality.

321 Reference: Economic Chaos, Loans, Greece and Corporatocracy, John

Perkins, 2011 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-perkins/economic-

chaos-loans-gree_b_901949.html)

322 Reference: Web of Debt, Ellen Hodgson Brown, Third Millennium Press,

2008

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

112

Needless to say, from the standpoint of technical efficiency,

seeing the human being as a bio-chemical machine in universal need

of basic nutrition, stability and other psychosocial requirements which,

if unattained, can result in sickness both physical and psychological,

we can recognize the decoupled state of human/social well-being with

this “market logic”.

323

As a final point on this issue, the market seeks the servicing of

problems at all times. In fact, it could be stated generally that

technical inefficiency is the driver of market efficiency. Problem

resolution is not sought by the market as it then creates an income

void and hence a loss of monetary gain and movement. The result of

this, in part, is a perverse reinforcement of incentive to seek or even

advance problems in general. A century ago the idea of selling bottled

water would have been strange given its general, unpolluted

abundance. In the modern day, it is a multimillion-dollar industry

annually, derived mostly from the water pollution that has occurred

due to irresponsible industrial practices.

324

The profit and jobs now

associated with this technically inefficient reality of resource pollution

and destruction, has improved, once again, the economic market

efficiency needed to keep cyclical consumption going.

Conclusion

Market efficiency, generally speaking, takes on a “macro” and “micro”

reality. On the macro scale, anything that can increase sales, growth

or consumption, regardless of the originating pressure for demand or

what is actually being bought and sold, is deemed efficient in this

context. On the micro scale, this efficiency takes the form of enabling

conditions that can increase profit and reduce input costs (“cost

efficiency”) on the part of business.

This “efficiency” inherent to capitalism operates without any

respect for the social or environmental costs of its process to keep

cyclical consumption and profit going and the world you see around

you - full of ecological disorder, human deprivation and general social

and environmental instability - has been the result. On the other hand,

technical efficiency, which one could characterize as, in fact, a

hindrance to market efficiency, seeks to maintain the environment,

maintain human health and essentially keep balance in the natural

world. The reduction of waste, resolution of problems and the

maintaining of alignment with natural law is the common sense logic

embodied.

It is unfortunate to realize that today we have two opposed

systems of economy working at once – working against each other, in

fact. The market system, embodying its archaic, traditionalized logic,

is utterly out of sync with the natural (technical) economy as it exists.

The result is vast discord and imbalance with ever-mutating problems

323 Please see the prior essay Defining Public Health

324 Reference: Water and Air Pollution, History.com

(http://www.history.com/topics/water-and-air-pollution)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

113

and consequences for the human species. It is clear which system will

“win” in this battle. Nature will persist with its natural rules regardless

of how much we theorize this or that validation of the way we have

traditionally organized ourselves on this planet.

Nature doesn’t care about our vast monetary economic ideas, its

theories of “value”, sophisticated financial models or detailed

equations regarding how we think human behavior manifests and why.

The technical reality is simple: learn, adapt and align to the governing

laws of nature, or suffer the consequences. It is absurd to think that

the human species, given its evolution within the same natural laws to

which our economic practice (and values) must align, would be

incompatible with such laws. It is merely an issue of maturity and

awareness today.

As a final point, as well as a general aside, there has emerged a

trend in the 21

st

century, in the wake of all the growing and persisting

ecological problems that claims to seek what is called a “green

economy”. Some have even divided this economic view into sectors,

including applications for renewable energy, eco-buildings, clean

transportation and other categories of focus.

325

It will be noticed that

all of those awarenesses and sought applications are generally in line

with the technical or scientific awareness perspective discussed in this

essay.

Sadly, as positive as the intent of these new organizations and

business planners may be, the inefficiency inherent to the capitalist

model of economics - with all its need for certain forms of contrived

“efficiency” to maintain itself - immediately pollutes and deeply limits

all such attempts, which explains why such technical efficiency

approaches have still yet to really be applied. The sad reality is that

while some improvement can be made, such progress will be

inherently limited to an ever-increasing degree since, as described, the

very structural basis of the way market capitalism works is actively

opposed to the efficiencies inherent in the natural law view. The only

logical solution is to rethink the entire structure if any real efficiency,

elevated prosperity and problem resolution is to be achieved in the

long run.

325 Reference: (regarding the “green economy”) How do you define the 'green'

economy?, MNN, 2009 (http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-

innovations/blogs/how-do-you-define-the-green-economy)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

114

-VALUE SYSTEM DISORDER-

I believe that greed and competition are not a result of immutable human

temperament; I have come to the conclusion that greed and fear of scarcity are

in fact being continuously created and amplified as a direct result of the kind of

money we are using...The direct consequence is that we have to fight with each

other in order to survive.

326

-Bernard Lietaer

Thought Genes

Given the relatively slow rate of change of the human being with

respect to biological evolution, the vast societal changes that have

occurred over the past 4000 years of recorded history have occurred

due to the evolution of knowledge – hence “cultural evolution”. If we

were to search for a mechanism for cultural evolution, the notion of

the “meme”

327

is useful to consider. Defined as “an idea, behavior,

style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture”,

memes are considered to be sociological or cultural analogues to

genes,

328

which are “functional (biological) units controlling the

transmission and expression of one or more traits”.

While genes basically transmit biological data from person to

person through heredity, memes transmit cultural data - ideas - from

person to person via human communication in all forms.

329

When we

recognize, for example, the power of technological advancement over

time and how it has dramatically changed our lifestyles and values and

will continue to do so, we can view this overall, emergent phenomenon

as an evolution of ideas, with information replicating and mutating,

altering the culture as time moves forward.

Given this, we could gesturally view the human mental state and

its propensities for action as a form of program. Just as genes encode

a set of instructions which, in concert with other genes and the

environment produce sequential results, the processing of memes by

the intellectual capacity of human beings, in concert, create patterns

of behavior in a similar way. While “free will” is certainly a complex

debate to be had with respect to what actually triggers and manifests

human decisions, it is fundamentally clear that people's ideas are

limited by their input (education). If a person is given little knowledge

about the world, their decision process will be equally as limited.

330

326 Bernard Lietaer is an economist, author and professor most notable for his

work to help design the EU currency system. Quote from YES! Magazine,

Interview with Bernard Lietaer, Beyond Greed and Scarcity, Sarah van

Gelder (http://www.transaction.net/press/interviews/lietaer0497.html)

327 Source: ('meme' defined) Merriam-Webster.com (http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/meme)

328 Source: ('gene' defined) Merriam-Webster.com (http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/gene)

329 Richard Dawkins' book The Selfish Gene introduced the term "meme".

Dawkins cites as inspiration the work of geneticist L. L. Cavalli-Sforza,

anthropologist F. T. Cloak and ethologist J. M. Cullen.

330 The inverse relationship of literacy/knowledge accumulation to superstitious

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

115

Likewise, just as genes can mutate in ways that are detrimental

to their host, such as the phenomenon of cancer,

331

so can memes

with respect to ideological/sociological transmissions, generating

mental frameworks that serve as detriments to the host (or society). It

is here where the term “disorder” is introduced. A disorder is defined

as “a derangement or abnormality of function”

332

. Therefore, when it

comes to social operation, a disorder would imply institutionalized

ideological frameworks that are out of alignment with the larger

governing system. In other words, they are inaccurate with respect to

the context in which they attempt to exist, often creating imbalance

and detrimental destabilization.

Of course, history is full of initially destabilizing, transitioning

ideas and this ongoing intellectual evolution is clearly natural and

necessary to the human condition as there is no such thing as an

“absolute” understanding. However, the differentiation to be made

here is the fact that when ideas persist for a long enough period, they

often create emotional connections on the personal (“identity”) level

and institutional establishments on the cultural level, which tend to

perpetuate a kind of circular reinforcement, generally resisting change

and adaptation.

Recognizing our intellectual evolution, as a process with no end

and being open to new information to help better align ourselves for

sustainable practices, is clearly a core ethic needed both on the

personal and social level if we expect to keep adapting for the better in

the context of cultural evolution. Sadly, there are powerful cultural

forces that work against this interest in the world today. Structures,

both ideological and encoded in the current social infrastructure

333

actively work against this critical necessity of cultural adaption. An

analogy would be the starvation of our biological cells by removing

oxygen from the environment – only in this case we are restricting our

vulnerability to learn and adapt, with knowledge being the “oxygen” by

which we as a species are able to solve problems and continue

progress.

belief is clear. According to the United Nations’ Arab Human Development

Reports, less than 2% of Arabs have access to the Internet. Arabs represent

5% of the world’s population and yet produce only 1% of the world’s books,

most of them religious. According to researcher Sam Harris: “Spain

translates more books into Spanish each year than the entire Arab world

has translated into Arabic since the ninth century.” It is axiomatic to assume

that the growth of the Islamic Religion in Arab Nations is secured by a

relative lack of outside information in those societies.

331 Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without

control and are able to invade other tissues.

(http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/cancerlibrary/what-is-cancer)

332 Source: ('disorder defined') TheFreeDictionary.com (http://medical-

dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/disorder)

333 To clarify the notion of “encoded”, this refers to structural attributes such

as needing, for example, “to compete” in order to succeed in the market

economy. It is built into the system's framework, or encoded.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

116

This disorder is, as will be described, inherent to the market

capitalist tradition. It is not only the actual decisions being made

against the interests of adaptation, knowingly or not, that perpetuate

detrimental effects on many levels – it is also the value system – the

employment of “identity” and a normalized sense of custom, which

bears a powerfully problematic force. This is compounded even more

so when the purpose served (or appears to be served) by such intents

directly ties to our survival and existence. There is nothing more

personal to us than how we identify ourselves and the economic

system we encompass is invariably a defining feature of our

mentalities and worldview. If there is something wrong with this

system, then it implies there is something wrong with ourselves, given

that we are the ones who perpetuate it.

Value System Disorder

Just like cancer is, in part, an immune system disorder, sociological

traditions which persist with ever-increasing problem generation for

society could be called a value system disorder.

334

This disorder has to

do with a kind of structured psychology where certain assumptions

have been given credence over time based merely on their cultural

persistence, coupled with an inherent reinforcement of itself in

operation. The larger the social context of the disorder, often the more

difficult its resolution, not to mention the difficulty of its mere

recognition itself.

On the scale of a social system, it becomes very difficult as the

society as a whole is constantly being conditioned into the dynamics of

its own framework, often creating powerful self-preservation reactions

whenever its integrity is challenged. These, what could be called

“closed intellectual feedback mechanisms”, are what comprise the vast

majority of arguments in defense of our current socioeconomic

system, just as they have in generations prior. In fact, it appears to be

a general sociological trend since, again, people's very identity is

invariably associated with the dominant belief systems and institutions

they are born into.

In the words of John McMurtry, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy

at the University of Guelph, Canada: “In the last dark age, one can

search the inquiries of this era’s preserved thinkers from Augustine

to...Ockham, and fail to discover a single page of criticism of the

established social framework, however rationally insupportable feudal

bondage, absolute paternalism, divine right of kings and the rest may

be. In the current final order, is it so different? Can we see in any

media or even university press a paragraph of clear unmasking of a

global regime that condemns a third of all children to malnutrition with

334 To clarify the phrase, the term “value” refers to an ethical preference in a

personal or cultural sense, generally considered subjective. It becomes a

basis for action. For example, a person who believes in a certain religious

philosophy might establish values in favor of certain behaviors. A value

system is a set of consistent values and measures.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

117

more food than enough available…? In such a social order, thought

becomes indistinguishable from propaganda. Only one doctrine is

speakable, and a priest caste of its experts prescribes the necessities

and obligations to all...Social consciousness is incarcerated within the

role of a kind of ceremonial logic, operating entirely within the received

framework of an exhaustively prescribed regulatory apparatus

protecting the privileges of the privileged. Methodical censorship

triumphs in the guise of scholarly rigor, and the only room left for

searching thought becomes the game of competing rationalizations.”

335

Such reactions are also common with respect to established

practices in specific fields. For instance, Ignaz P. Semmelweis (1818 -

1865), a Hungarian physician who discovered that puerperal fever

could be drastically cut by the use of simple hand washing standards in

obstetrical clinics, essentially foreshadowing the now fully accepted

germ theory of disease, was shunned, rejected and ridiculed by his

finding. It wasn't until long after his death his now very basic

realization was respected. Today, some use the phrase, “The

Semmelweis Reflex” as a metaphor for the reflex-like tendency to

reject new evidence or new knowledge because it contradicts

established norms, beliefs or paradigms.

336

Overall, once a given set of ideas is entrusted by a large enough

number of people, it becomes an “institution”- and once that

institution is made dominant in some way, such as existing for a

certain period of time, that institution could then be considered an

“establishment”. “Institutional establishments” are simply social

traditions given the illusion of permanence and the longer they persist,

often the stronger the defense of their right to exist by the majority of

culture.

If we examine the institutional establishments we take for

granted today – from macro system attributes such as the financial

system, the legal system, the political system and major religious

systems – to micro system attributes such as materialism, marriage,

celebrity, etc. – we must remind ourselves that none of these ideas

are actually real in the physical sense. These are temporal meme

structures we have created to serve our purposes given conditions at

certain points in time and no matter how much we emotionally attach

to such issues; no matter how large an institution may become; no

matter how many people may believe in such institutions - they are

still impositions of thought and transient by nature.

So, coming back to the context here of the value system

disorder, market capitalism, while arguably being deeply decoupled

from physical reality and a root source of the vast majority of the

social woes in the world today, keeps itself in place through a set of

culturally reinforced values and power establishments upon which the

society is ultimately conditioned and generally inclined to defend. This

335 The Cancer Stage of Capitalism, John McMurtry, Pluto Press, 1999, p.6

336 General biography of Ignaz P. Semmelweis:

http://semmelweis.org/about/dr-semmelweis-biography/

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

118

is made increasingly powerful in its persuasion since the dominant

value system disorder at hand today is born out of assumptions

relating to critical human survival itself.

Characteristics of Pathology

In order to critically evaluate an existing framework of thought, a

basic, mutually accepted benchmark needs to be generated. “Cultural

relativism”

337

is an anthropological notion that refers to the fact that

different cultural groups generate different perceptions of “truth” or

“reality”. “Moral relativism”,

338

which is a similar notion, has to do with

the variance of what is considered “correct” or “ethical”. Over the

course of human history, these distinctions have become increasingly

narrow since the scientific revolution of causal thought, from the

Renaissance onward, has increasingly reduced the “relative integrity”

of various beliefs.

The fact is, beliefs are not equal in their validity. Some are truer

than others and hence some are more dysfunctional than others in the

context of real life. The scientific method of arriving at conclusions is

the ultimate benchmark upon which the integrity of human values can

be measured and this modern reality demystifies the common

“relativism” defense of subjective human belief.

It is not about “right” and “wrong” but what works or doesn't work.

The integrity of our values and beliefs is only as good as how aligned

they are with the natural world. This is the common ground that we all

share.

This concept ties in directly with sustainability in the broad

context of human survival itself, as a sustainable social system

naturally must have sustainable values to facilitate and perpetuate the

structure. Unfortunately, the evolutionary baggage of our cultural

history has maintained value structures that are so powerful, yet so

clearly decoupled from reality, which our personal and societal

assumptions of happiness, success and progress itself continue to be

deeply perverted and exist in discordance with the governing laws of

our habitat and human nature. The human being indeed has a

common nature and while nothing appears 100% universal across the

species, certain pressures and stressors can generate, on average,

serious public health problems.

339

Likewise, if our values support

behaviors that are not in accordance with our physical sustainability on

the planet Earth, then naturally we can expect ever-increasing

problems on that environmental level as well.

340

337 “Cultural relativism” is a principle that was established as axiomatic in

anthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the 20th

century.

338 Similar to “cultural relativism”, “moral relativism” is generally defined as:

“any of several philosophical positions concerned with the differences in

moral judgments across different people and cultures.”

(https://www.boundless.com/management/definition/moral-relativism/)

339 Please see the prior essay Defining Public Health

340 A general example would be the consumer values prevalent in the world

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

119

The dominant value system, which the capitalist socioeconomic

model perpetuates, is arguably deeply pathological to the human

condition as the mechanisms related to survival and general reward

compound emotional attachments and forms of self-preservation which

are essentially rooted in a kind of primitive desperation and fear. The

fundamental ethos is that of an anti-social, scarcity driven pressure,

which forces all players of the game to be generally exploitative and

antagonistic both of others and the habitat. It also has built-in

pressures to avoid socially easing interests due to a resulting loss of

profit,

341

furthering this stress-induced emotional disparity. The result

is a vicious cycle of general abuse, narrow-minded selfishness, and

social and environmental disregard.

Of course, historically, these caustic characteristics are usually

defended as simply “the way it is” - as though our evolutionary

psychology must be stuck in this state. In fact, if the touted

psychological doctrines of traditional market theory hold true

(“neoclassical utilitarianism”) regarding our apparent limits with

respect to a “workable” social structure, then imbalance,

environmental destruction, oppression, violence, tyranny, personality

disorders, warfare, exploitation, selfish greed, vain materialism,

competition and other such divisive, inhumane and destabilizing

realities are simply inalterable and therefore the whole of society

should do nothing but work around such inevitabilities with whatever

“controls” we can put in place to “manage” these realities of the

human condition. It is as though the human being is deemed to have a

severe, incurable mental disorder – a firm retardation - that simply

cannot be overcome, so everything in society must be altered around

it in an attempt to deal with it.

Yet, the more we live as human beings; the more history we are

able to see of ourselves over generational time; the more we are able

to compare the behaviors of different cultures across the world and

across history – the more clear it becomes that our human capacity is

being inhibited directly by an archaic reward and survival structure

today. The act of increasing ownership is common as more property is

equated to increased success and more consumption is related to economic

growth. Yet, such an un-conservative ethic can be considered un-

sustainable given we live on a finite planet with finite resources. In fact, it

has been argued by many that the “standard of living” of the United States

would be, in the current scheme of things, technically impossible to extend

to the rest of the world. According to some surveys: “Humanity is now using

resources and producing carbon dioxide at a rate 50 percent faster than the

Earth can sustain...” Sources: Living Planet Report: Humanity Now Needs

1.5 Earths, 2010 (http://www.business-

biodiversity.eu/default.asp?Menue=49&News=233); The Earth Is Full, 2011

(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/opinion/08friedman.html)

341 It should be understood that the more problems in the world, the more

there is to service and capitalize upon. The more true problem resolution,

the less capacity there is to capitalize and hence less to maintain or increase

economic growth.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

120

which continues to reinforce primitive, desperate values and while

such values might have served a positive evolutionary role in the past,

the present and foreshadowed future arguably lays these behavioral

patterns bare as detrimental and unsustainable, as this overall text

has expressed at length.

Self-Preservation Paralysis

While each of us generally wishes to survive and do so in a healthy

state, naturally prepared to defend that survival when need be, self-

preservation in the current socioeconomic condition unnecessarily

extends this tendency in ways that severely inhibit social progress and

problem resolution. In fact, it could be said that this short-term

preservation occurs often at the cost of long-term integrity.

The most obvious example of this has to do with the

fundamental nature of seeking and maintaining income, the lifeblood

of the market system and, by extension, human survival. Once a

business succeeds in gaining market share, typically supporting

employees along with the owners, the business naturally gravitates to

an interest to preserve that income generating market share at all

costs. Deep value associations are generated since the business is not

just an arbitrary entity that produces a good or service - it is now a

means of life support for everyone involved.

The result is a constant, socially debilitating battle, not only with

the competitors who also seek the same consumer market, but with

innovation and change itself. While technological progress is a

constant, fluid progression on the scientific level, the market economy

sees this emergence as a threat in the context of existing, currently

profitable ideas. Vast levels of historical “corruption”, cartel and

monopoly generation and other defensive moves of existing businesses

can be found throughout history, each act working to secure income

production regardless of the social costs.

342

Another example has to do with the psychological neurosis built

out of the credit-based reward incentive inherent to the market

system. While it is intellectually clear that no single person invents

anything given the reality that all knowledge is serially generated and

invariably cumulative over time, the market economy's characteristic

of “ownership” creates a tendency not only to reduce information flow

via patents and “trade secrets”, it also reinforces the idea of

“intellectual property”, despite the true fallacy of the notion itself.

On the value system level, this has mutated into the notion of

“credit” entitlement and hence often “ego” associations to presented

ideas or “inventions”. In the world today, this phenomenon has taken

a life of its own with a tendency for many who contribute often seeking

342 A well-established example of inhibited progress for the maintaining of

existing profit establishments was the successful effort made by the oil

industry and, by extension, the US government to slow progress toward

fully electric vehicles in the 1990s. Reference: Who Killed the Electric Car?

(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489037/synopsis)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

121

status elevating “credit” for the idea, even though they are, again,

clearly part of a continuum larger than themselves. While appreciation

for the time and labor of a given person working towards the progress

of an idea is a productive social incentive and fundamental to our

sense of purpose in action, the perversion of intellectual ownership and

all its contrived attributes extend this operant satisfaction into

distortion.

In fact, on the largest scale of knowledge culmination, such acts

of “appreciation” inevitably become irrelevant in the memory of

history. Today, for instance, when we use a modern computer to assist

our lives, we seldom think about the thousands of years of intellectual

study that discovered the core scientific dynamics related, nor the

enormous amount of cumulative time spent by virtually countless

people to facilitate the “invention” of such a tool, in its current form.

It is only in the context of manifest ego and monetary reward

security that this becomes a “natural” value issue with respect to the

market system. If people do not claim “credit”, they will not be

rewarded and hence they will not gain survival from that contribution

in the market. So, the condition has compounded this neurosis that is

invariably stifling towards progress via the sharing of knowledge.

Furthermore, disorders associated with market “self-

preservation” can take many other forms, including the use of

government as a tool,

343

the pollution of academia and information

itself

344

(since educational institutions are supported by income as

well), and even common interpersonal relationships.

345

The fear

inherent to the loss of livelihood naturally overrides almost everything

and even the most “ethical” or “moral” person, when faced with the

risk of non-survival, can usually justify actions that would be

traditionally called “corrupt”. This pressure is constant and is the

source, in part, of the vast co-called “criminality” and social paralysis

we see today.

343 Corporate lobbying, by its very nature, is a means to use money to

influence political decisions. Reference: Corporate Lobbyists Threaten

Democracy, Julio Godoy, IPS: (http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/08/corporate-

lobbyists-threaten-democracy/)

344 A unique example of this was the 2007 case in which Microsoft Corporation,

dissatisfied with the information on the public encyclopedia “Wikipedia”

worked to hire an editor to change the public information in its favor.

Reference: Microsoft Offers Cash for Wikipedia Edit

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

dyn/content/article/2007/01/23/AR2007012301025.html)

345 A study by a Connecticut wealth management firm showed that many

would get married simply for money, with the average ‘price’ that people

would marry for being around $1.5 million. Reference: Survey: Most People

Would Marry For Money, Tom Miller

(http://www.yourtango.com/20072778/survey-most-people-would-marry-

for-money)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

122

Competition, Exploitation and Class Warfare

Building on the prior point, exploitation, which is inherent to the

competitive frame of mind, has permeated the very core of what it

means to “succeed” in general. We see this “taking advantage”

rhetoric in many facets of our lives. The act of manipulation and

exploitation for competitive gain has become an underlying force in

modern culture, extending far beyond the context of the market

system.

The attitude of seeing others and the world as merely a means

for oneself or a particular group to “conquer” and keep ahead of is now

a driving psychological distortion to be found in romantic relationships,

friendships, family structures, nationalism and even how we relate to

the habitat we exist within - where we seek to exploit and disregard

the physical environment's resources for short term personal gain and

advantage. All elements of our lives are necessarily viewed from the

perspective of “what can I get out of it personally?”

A study performed at the Department of Psychology at the

University of California, Berkeley, in 2011 found that: “...upper-class

individuals behave more unethically than lower-class

individuals...upper-class individuals were more likely to break the law

while driving, relative to lower-class individuals. In follow-up

laboratory studies, upper-class individuals were more likely to exhibit

unethical decision-making tendencies, take valued goods from others,

lie in a negotiation, cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize,

and endorse unethical behavior at work than were lower-class

individuals. Mediator and moderator data demonstrated that upper-

class individuals’ unethical tendencies are accounted for, in part, by

their more favorable attitudes toward greed.”

346

Studies of this nature are very interesting as they reveal that

the common human nature argument in its extreme context, that of

people inevitably “being competitive and exploitative”, when defending

the current social system, is bypassed. Class relationships are not

genetic relationships, even though the nuances of individual

propensities could be argued. This study expresses a cultural

phenomenon overall since it is axiomatic to assume that the general

attitude of disregard for external negative consequences, or so-called

"unethical behavior" expressed by the upper class, is a result of the

type of values needed to achieve the position of actually making it to

the “upper class”.

347

In common poetic rhetoric, this intuition has held true for

centuries, with the observation that those who achieve “success” in

346 Reference: Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior, Piffa,

Stancatoa, Côtéb, Mendoza-Dentona, Dacher Keltnera, University of

Michigan, 2012

(http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/02/21/1118373109)

347 Reference: “How Wealth Reduces Compassion”, Daisy Grewal, Scientific

American, 2012 (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-

wealth-reduces-compassion)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

123

the business sense, are often “desensitized” and “ruthless”. There

appears to be a general loss of empathy by those who achieve such

“success” and it is intuitively obvious why this is the case, given the

value system disorder of competitive disregard inherent to the market

system psychology. Overall, the more caring and empathic you are,

the less likely you are to succeed financially - no different from a

general sport where you are not going to help an opposing player

achieve their goals for it means you are more likely to lose.

Overall, the lower classes are found to be more socially humane

in many ways. For example, it has also been found that the poor give

a higher percentage of their income (4.3%) to charity than rich people

(2.1%). A 2010 study found that: “...lower class individuals proved to

be more generous...charitable...trusting...and helpful...compared with

their upper class counterparts. Mediator and moderator data showed

that lower class individuals acted in a more prosocial fashion because

of a greater commitment to egalitarian values and feelings of

compassion. Implications for social class, prosocial behavior, and

economic inequality are discussed.”

348

349

A study conducted by the Chronicle of Philanthropy using tax-

deduction data from the Internal Revenue Service, showed that

households earning between $50,000 and $75,000 a year give an

average of 7.6% of their discretionary income to charity. That

compares to 4.2% for people who make $100,000 or more. In some of

the wealthiest neighborhoods, with a large share of people making

$200,000 or more a year, the average giving rate was 2.8%.

350

351

Success & Status

Underlying the capitalist model is an implied assumption that those

who contribute the most must gain the most. In other words, it is

assumed that to become say, a billionaire, you must have done

something important and helpful for society. Of course, this is clearly

untrue. The vast majority of extremely wealthy people originate their

wealth out of mechanisms that are not socially contributive on any

direct, creative level when broken down and analyzed.

352

The act of engineering, problem solving and creative innovation

almost always occurs on the level of the laborer in the lower echelons

348 Source: “Having Less, Giving More: The Influence of Social Class on

Prosocial Behavior”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2010, Vol.

99, No. 5, 771–784, 2012

(http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/phd/file/Piffetal.pdf)

349 Source: Study: Poor Are More Charitable Than The Wealthy, NPR, 2012

(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129068241)

350 Reference: The Rich Are Less Charitable Than the Middle Class: Study,

CNBC, 2012 (http://www.cnbc.com/id/48725147)

351 Reference: “America's poor are its most generous givers”, Frank

Greve/McCLatchy analysis, 2009

(http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/05/19/68456/americas-poor-are-its-

most-generous.html)

352 Reference: The Engineers and the Price System, Thorstein Veblen, 1921

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

124

of the corporate complex, only to be capitalized upon by those at the

top (owners) who are skilled at the contrived game of generating a

“market”. This is not to discount the intelligence or hard work of those

who hold vast wealth, but to show that the rewards of the system are

displaced, allocated to those who exploit the mechanisms of the

market, not those who actually engineer and create. In fact, one of the

most rewarded sectors of the global economy today is that of

investment and finance.

353

This is a classic example as to be a “hedge

fund” manager, moving money around for the mere sake of gaining

more money, with zero contribution to creative development,

354

is one

of the highest paid occupations in the world today.

Likewise, the very notion of “success” in the culture today is

measured by material wealth, in and of itself. Fame, power and other

gestures of attention go hand in hand with material wealth. To be poor

is to be abhorred, while to be rich is to be admired. Across almost the

entire social spectrum, those of high levels of wealth are treated with

immense respect. Part of this has to do with a system-oriented

survival mechanism, such as the personal interest in gaining insight

into how to also become such a “success” - but overall it has morphed

into a strange fetish where the idea of being rich, powerful and

famous, by whatever means necessary, is a guiding force.

The value system disorder of rewarding, in effect, generally the

most ruthless and selfish in our society, both by financial means and

then by public adoration and respect, is one of the most pervasive and

insidious consequences of the incentive system inherent to the

Capitalist model. It not only works to bypass true interests in types of

innovation and problem-solving which inherently do not have

monetary return, it also reinforces the market system's own existence,

justifying itself by way of high status attainment for those who “win” in

the system, regardless of true contribution or the social and

environmental costs.

Sociologist Thorstein Veblen wrote extensively on this issue,

referring to this value “virtue” as predatory: “As the predatory culture

reaches a fuller development, there comes a distinction between

employments...The “honorable” man must not only show capacity for

predatory exploit, but he must also avoid entanglement with

occupations that do not involve exploit. The tame employments, those

that involve no obvious destruction of life and no spectacular coercion

353 Reference: “The 40 Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers”, Nathan Vardi,

Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2012/03/01/the-40-

highest-earning-hedge-fund-managers-3/)

354 There is a common argument that the financial sector is relevant to

industrial production because it facilitates the capital by which production is

originated by investment. However, that facilitation is a contrivance since

the act of production in physical reality, absent the Capitalist model, has

nothing to do with money or investment at all – it has to do with education,

resources and engineering. Investment and finance is not real as it does not

produce - it is not needed with respect to the real components of

production.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

125

of refractory antagonists, fall into disrepute and are relegated to those

members of the community who are defective in the predatory

capacity; that is to say, those who are lacking massiveness, agility, or

ferocity...Therefore the able-bodied barbarian of the predatory culture,

who is mindful of his good name...puts in his time in the manly arts of

war and devotes his talents to devising ways and means of disturbing

the peace. That way lies honor.”

355

William Thompson, in his An Inquiry into the Principles of the

Distribution of Wealth Most Conducive to Human Happiness restates

the reality of this associative influence:

“Our next position is, that excessive wealth excites the

admiration and the imitation, and in this way diffuses the practice of

the vices of the rich, amongst the rest of the community; or produces

in them other vices arising out of their relative situation to the

excessively rich. On this point, nothing is more obvious than the

universal operation of the most common principle of our nature – that

of association. The wealth, as a means of happiness...is admired or

envied by all; the manner and character connected with the

abundance of these good things, always strike the mind in conjunction

with them...”

356

Classes and class warfare are a natural outgrowth of this as the

value associations to wealth and power, manifest by the current

system, become an issue of emotional identity over time. The status-

interest begins to take on a life of its own and it generates actions of

self-preservation on the part of the upper class that seek to maintain

(or elevate) their status in ways that might not even relate to money

or material wealth anymore. Self-preservation, in this case, extends to

a kind of drug addiction. Just as a chronic gambler needs the

endorphin rush of winning to feel good, those in the upper class often

develop similar compulsions in relationship to the state of their

perceived status and wealth.

The term “greed” is often used to differentiate between those

who exploit modestly and those who exploit excessively. Greed is

hence a relative notion, just as being “rich” is a relative notion. The

term “relative deprivation”

357

refers to the discontent people feel when

they compare their positions to others and realize that they have less

of what they believe themselves to be entitled to. This psychological

phenomenon knows no end and within the context of the material

success incentive system of capitalism, its presence as a severe value

system disorder is apparent on the level of mental health.

While maintaining a needs meeting, quality standard of living is

355 “The Instinct of Workmanship and the Irksomeness of Labor,” in Essays in

Our Changing Order, Thorstein Veblen, pp.93-94

356 Source: An Inquiry into the Principles of the Distribution of Wealth Most

Conducive to Human Happiness, William Thompson, London, William S. Orr,

1850, p.147

357 Source: Relative Deprivation: Specification, Development, and Integration,

Iain Walker, Heather J. Smith, Cambridge University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-

521-80132-X, Google Print

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

126

important for physical and mental health, anything beyond that

balance in the context of social comparison has the capacity to create

severe neurosis and social distortion. Not only is there no “winning” in

the end when it comes to the subjective perception of status and

wealth, it often serves to decouple those figures from the majority of

the human experience, generating alienation and dehumanization in

many ways. This empathic loss has no positive outcome on the social

level. The predatory reward values inherent to the market system

virtually guarantee endless conflict and abuse.

358

Of course, the myth is that this neurosis of seeking “more and

more” status and wealth is the core driver of social progress and

innovation. While there might be some basic truth to this intuitive

assumption, the intent, again, is not social contribution but advantage

and financial gain. It is like saying being chased by a pack of hungry

wolves ready to eat you is good for your health since it is keeping you

running. While certain accomplishments are clearly occurring, the

guiding force (intent) again has little to do with those accomplishments

and the detrimental byproducts and larger-order paralysis inherent

nullifies in comparison the idea that the values of competition, material

greed and vain status is a legitimate source of societal progress.

In fact, epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson has extrapolated a

comparison of wealthy nations oriented by the income disparity

present in each population. It was found that those nations with the

least income disparity actually were more innovative

359

and when we

consider that the competitive value drive has a large role with respect

to how severe the gap between the rich and poor is, it is axiomatic to

consider that the values of egalitarianism and collaboration have more

creative power than the traditional economic incentive rhetoric would

claim.

As a final point in this subsection, the subject of materialism and

status can be extended to the similar issue of vanity as well. While a

mild deviation from our point, the vanity-based culture we have today

finds a direct relationship to these drives for status and measures of

“success” rooted in the psychological value incentives inherent to the

capitalist system. Given that the value system of “acquisition” is, in

fact, necessary for the consumption model to work, it is only natural

that marketing and advertising generate dissatisfaction continually,

including in the way we feel about our physical appearance.

In fact, a study was conducted some years ago on the island of

Fiji, in which Western television was introduced to a culture that had

never experienced the medium before. By the end of the observation

period, the effect of materialistic values and vanity took a powerful

toll. A relevant percentage of young women, for example, who prior

had embraced the style of healthy weight and full features, became

358 More in the essay: Structural Classism, the State and War

359 Reference: “The Importance of Economic Equality”, Eben Harrell, Time,

2009; Also See: The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett,

Penguin, March 2009

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

127

obsessed with being thin. Eating disorders, which were virtually

unheard of in this culture, began to spread and women specifically

were transformed.

360

Ideological Polarization & Blame

When the subject of what has “gone wrong” with the world today is

broached - given the poverty, ecological imbalance, inhumanity,

general economic destabilization and the like - a polarized debate

often ensues. Dualities such as “the right or the left” or “liberal or

conservative” are common, implying that in the range of human

comprehension and preference, there is a rigid guiding line that

embodies all known possibilities.

Paired with this is also the older, yet still common duality of

“collectivism vs. free market”. In short, this duality assumes that all

options of economic preference must adhere to the idea that society

should either be based on the supposed democratic will of all the

people in the form of “free-trade” – or that a small group of people

should be in control and tell everyone else what to do. Due to the dark

history of totalitarianism that plagued the 20

th

century, a fear based

value orientation, which rejects anything that even remotely hints at

the appearance of “collectivism”, is extremely common today, with the

related word “socialism” often used in a derogatory way.

361

As noted prior in this essay, people's sense of possibility is

directly related to their knowledge - what they have learned. If

traditional educational and social institutions present all socioeconomic

variation within the confines of such boxed frames of reference, people

will likely mirror this assumption (meme) and perpetuate it in thought

and practice. If you are not “abc”, then you must be “xyz” - this is the

common thought meme. Even the political establishment of the United

States exists in this paradigm, for if you are not a “republican”, you

must be a ”democrat”, etc.

In other words, there is a direct inhibition of possibility and, in

this context, it often manifests a value structure that builds emotional

attachments to false dualities. These values are extreme barriers to

progress today on many levels. In fact, as an aside, if the intention of

a ruling class were to limit any interference from the lower classes,

they would protectively work to limit people's sense of possibility.

362

360 “Study Finds TV Alters Fiji Girls' View of Body”, Erica Goode, The New York

Times, 1999

(http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/20/world/study-finds-tv-alters-fiji-girls-

view-of-body.html)

361 Reference: “Pat Robertson: Obama A 'Socialist,' Wants To 'Destroy' The

United States”, Paige Lavender, The Huffington Post, 2012,

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/pat-robertson-

obama_n_2301228.html)

362 Much controversy has existed with respect to continual decline of Western

education, specifically in America. Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt, former Senior

Policy Advisor in the U.S. Department of Education, has written about what

she calls The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America, Conscience Press, 1999

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

128

For example, the supposed problem of “state intervention” of

the free-market, a constant theme of capitalist apologists, essentially

says that since various policies and practices of the government limit

free trade in some way,

363

this is the source of the problem generating

market inefficiency. This blame game actually goes back and forth

between those who claim it is the market that is the problem and

those who claim it is the state's interference with the market.

364

What isn't talked about is the duality-shattering reality that the

state, in its historical form, is an extension of the capitalist system

itself. The government did not create this system. The system created

the government or more accurately - they evolved as one apparatus.

All socioeconomic systems root themselves in the basis of industrial

unfolding and basic survival. Just as feudalism, being based on an

agrarian society, oriented its class structure in relationships to the

livelihood-producing land, so do the so-called “democracies” in the

world today. Therefore, the very idea the state government is

detached or without the influence of capitalism is a purely abstract

theory with no truth in reality. Capitalism essentially molded the

governmental apparatus's nature and unfolding – not the other way

around.

So, when people argue that government regulation of the

market is the root of the problem and that the market should be “free”

without structural or legal inhibition, they are confused in their

associative understanding. The entire legal system, which is the

central tool of government, will always be “infiltrated” and used to

assist in competitive tactics by business to maintain and increase

advantage since that is the very nature of the game. To expect

anything else is to assume that there are actually “moral” limits to the

act of competition. Yet, this is completely subjective. Such moral and

ethical assumptions have no empirical basis, especially when the very

nature of the socioeconomic system is oriented around power,

exploitation and competition - all considered to be, in fact, ideal

virtues of the “good businessman”, as noted before.

If a profit seeking institution can gain power in the government

(which is the exact intent of “corporate lobbying”) and manipulate the

governmental apparatus to favor their business or industry to gain

advantage, then that is simply good business. It is only when the

competitive attacks reach peak levels of unfairness that action is taken

to preserve the illusion of “balance”. We see this with anti-trust laws

363 Reference: Ronald Reagan: Protectionist, Sheldon L. Richman, 1988

(https://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=489)

364 A notable statement by the famous economist Milton Friedman on this

issue: “Government has three primary functions. It should provide for

military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between

individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes against themselves or

their property. When government - in pursuit of good intentions tries to

rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the

costs come in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom.

Government should be a referee, not an active player.”

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

129

and the like.

365

These laws are, in reality, not to protect “free-trade” or

the like – but to settle extreme acts of competitive intent inherent in

the market place, with all sides jockeying for advantage by whatever

means possible.

366

Even the very constituents of all governments in the world today

are invariably of the corporate-business class. Hence, deep business

values are clearly inherent in the mindsets of those in power. Thorstein

Veblen wrote of this reality in the early 20

th

century:

“The responsible officials and their chief administrative officers -

so much as may at all reasonably be called the “government” or the

“administration” - are invariably and characteristically drawn from

these beneficiary classes; nobles, gentleman or business men, which

all come to the same thing for the purpose in hand; the point of it all

being that the common man does not come within these precincts and

does not share in these counsels that are assumed to guide the

destiny of the nations.”

367

So, to argue that the “free market” is not “free” due to

intervention is to misunderstand what the nature of “free” really

means with respect to the system. The “freedom” is not the freedom

of everyone to be able to “fairly” participate in the open-market and all

the utopian rhetoric we hear about today by apologists of the capitalist

system – the real freedom is actually the freedom to dominate,

suppress and beat other businesses by whatever competitive means

possible. In this, no “level playing field” is possible. In fact, if the

government did not “interfere” by way of monopoly/anti-trust laws or

the “bailing out” of banks and the like - the entire market complex

would have self-destructed a long time ago. In part, this inherent

instability of the market is what economists like John Maynard Keynes

basically understood, but arguably to a limited extent.

368

365 Even Adam Smith in his writings implies that businessmen use every

means at their disposal to avoid competition and to secure monopolies:

"People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and

diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in

some contrivance to raise prices.” Reference: An Inquiry into the Nature

and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, New York, Modern

Library, 1937 p. 128

366 Economist Thomas Hodgskin wrote in the early 19

th

century: “It is not

enough, in the eyes of legislators, that wealth has of itself a thousand

charms, but they have[...]given it a multitude of privileges. In fact, it has

now usurped all the power of legislation, and most penal laws are now made

for the mere protection of wealth.” Source: Travels in the North of

Germany, Describing the Present State of Social and Political Institutions,

the Agriculture, Manufactures, Commerce, Education, Arts and Manners in

That Country, Particularly in the Kingdom of Hanover, Thomas Hodgskin, T.

Edinburgh, Archibald Constable, 1820, vol. 2, p. 228

367 Source: An Inquiry into the Nature of Peace and the terms of its

Perpetuation, Thorstein Veblen, Harvard Law, pp.326-327

368 Keynesian economics, unlike the more libertarian, free-market liberation

schools of economic thought, such as the Austrian School, sees, in part,

government intervention as periodically needed to avoid certain problems.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

130

Individuality & Freedom

All too often people speak of “freedom” in a way that is more of an

indescribable gesture than a tangible circumstance. We hear this

rhetoric in the political and economic establishments constantly today

where associations of “democracy” are made to this “freedom”, both

on the level of the traditional practice of voting and the movement of

money itself via independent free trade. These sociopolitical memes

are also reinforced in a polarized way, relatively, which often uses

examples of oppression and the loss of freedom and liberty in prior

social systems to defend the current state of affairs.

The creative works of philosophers, artists and writers who have

been influential in furthering various ideological notions of this

“freedom”, often at the expense of societal vulnerability, increasing

this dogmatic polarization, has further compounded these values.

369

In

short, a great deal of fear and emotional power exists around the

notion of social change and how it might affect our lives in the way of

liberty and individuality.

Yet, if we step back and think about what freedom means away

from these cultural memes, we find that notions of freedom can be

argued as relative given human history, along with standards of living

and even personal expression itself. Therefore, in order to decide what

freedom is and how to qualify it, we need to measure it from an (a)

historical perspective on one side and with respect to (b) future

possibility on the other.

(a) Historically, the fundamental concern is based on the fear of power

and the abuse of power. Human history, in part, is certainly one of

perpetual power struggles. Fueled by deeply divisive religious and

philosophical beliefs and values which manifested abject slavery, the

subjugation of women, periodic genocide, prosecution for heresy (free

speech, or what was and still is known as "free thought"), the divine

right of kings and the like, it could be argued that human history in

this context is a history of dangerous, unfounded superstitions made

sacrosanct by primitive values/understanding in those periods of time,

at the expense of human well-being and social balance. The fear and

scarcity of these earlier periods appears to have amplified the worst of

what we might consider “human nature”, often seeking power as a

In the words of the online Business Dictionary: “This theory further asserts

that free markets have no self-balancing mechanisms that lead to full

employment. Keynesian economists urge and justify a government's

intervention in the economy through public policies that aim to achieve full

employment and price stability.” Source: BusinessDictionary.com

(http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/Keynesian-economics.html)

369 Ayn Rand's famous novel Anthem is a notable, influential example of this

artistic culmination of values. It takes place in a dystopian future where

mankind has entered another dark age characterized by irrationality,

collectivism, and socialistic thinking and economics. The concept of

individuality has been eliminated. For example, the use of the word "I" is

punishable by death.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

131

way to avoid the abuse of power in a vicious cycle.

Yet, it is critically important to notice that we have been in a

process of transition away from these archaic values and beliefs

overall, with the global culture and its institutions slowly embracing

scientific causality and its merit with respect to what is real and what

isn't. With this, certain positive trends have become clear.

We have moved from the “divine”, ultimate power of genetically

determined kings and pharaohs into a system of very limited, yet

general public participation via a so-called “democratic process” in

most of the world. Human exploitation, subjugation and abject slavery

has lost its common defenses of religious, racial or gender superiority

and improved to the extent that the slavery today overall takes the

less severe form of “wage labor” - in the larger context of “class”

associations - as determined by one's place in the economic hierarchy.

The market economy, in all its historical forms, has also been able to

overcome the race-like “caste” predeterminations as well since it does

allow a level of (limited) social mobility in the community where

income gained facilitates more general “freedom”.

370

Such progressive realities need to be taken into account as

capitalism, with all its flaws, has served to help improve certain things

in the social condition. Yet, what hasn't changed is the underlying

premise that is still elitist and bigoted in how it favors one group over

another, both structurally and sociologically. Only in this case the

“group” favored has nothing much to do with gender, race or religion

anymore – but to do with a kind of forceful expedience and

competitive mentality that pushes itself to the top of the class

hierarchy, at the inevitable expense of others.

Capitalism, it could well be argued, is really is a post-modern

slavery system, with a new value orientation of “competitive freedom”

holding it in place. This reinvented notion of “freedom” basically says

that we are all “free” to compete with each other and take what we

can. Yet, as noted before, such a state of “open freedom”, existing

without abuse, oppression and structural advantage - is clearly

impossible. So, while proponents of capitalism may adduce the social

improvements which have occurred since its advent as evidence of its

social efficacy, we must acknowledge that its root form is not in the

interest of human freedom, but an echo of social bigotry which has

been polluting culture for thousands of years, rooted in a general

psychology of elitism and scarcity.

Today, true freedom is directly related to the amount of money

370 'Social mobility' is structurally inhibited in the capitalist system, with a very

small percentage actually attaining upward mobility, statistically. Mobility in

the United States, home of the “American Dream”, has also been

increasingly declining. Reference: “Exceptional Upward Mobility in the US Is

a Myth, International Studies Show”, Science Daily

(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120905141920.htm) Also

See: “Harder for Americans to Rise From Lower Rungs”, New York Times,

2012 (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/us/harder-for-americans-to-

rise-from-lower-rungs.html?pagewanted=all)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

132

a person has. Those below the poverty line have severe limitations on

personal freedom as compared to the wealthy. Likewise, while

proponents of the free market often talk about “coercion” in the

context of state power, the reality of economic coercion is ignored.

Traditional economic theorists constantly use rhetoric that suggests

that everything is an issue of choice in the market and if a person

wishes to take a job or not, it is their choice.

Yet, those in poverty, which is the majority,

371

face a severe

reduction of choice. The pressures of their limited economic capacity

creates a powerful state of coercion by which they not only must take

labor roles they might not appreciate to survive, they are often subject

to vast exploitation in the form of low wage rates due to that same

desperation. In fact, general poverty, in this context, is a very positive

condition for the capitalist class for it ensures cost-efficiency in the

form of cheaper labor.

So again, while we may have seen some societal improvement

over time, this improvement is really just a variation of a common

theme of general elitism, exploitation and bigotry. The long history of

assumed resource scarcity and limits on production have also

compounded this idea, in the Malthusian sense,

372

where the idea of

everyone finding some level of economic equality was deemed simply

impossible.

(b) Yet, modern science and the exponential development of technical

application, along with a deeper awareness of our human condition,

373

has opened the door to future possibilities for social improvement and,

in fact, a further elevation of freedom in ways never before seen. This

awareness presents a problem since the possibility of achieving this

new level is deeply inhibited by the values and establishments set

forth by the traditional capitalist social order. In other words, the

market system simply cannot facilitate these improvements because

the nature of their culmination is against the very mechanisms of the

system.

For example, the efficiency made possible on the technical,

scientific level today, if correctly applied, could provide a high standard

of living for every human on earth, coupled with the removing of

dangerous and monotonous labor through the application of

cybernated mechanization.

374

In the world today, the vast majority of

people spend most of their life working an occupation and sleeping.

371 While the poverty line standard is relative based on the region of

application, over 50% of the world as of a 2005 World Bank Study live on

less than 2.50 a day, or about $912.00 a year. Source: GlobalIssues.org

(http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats)

372 See the section on Malthus and Ricardo in the essay History of Economy.

373 Clarification: Socially causal or psychosocial effects of the human-society

relationship have proven some powerful realities about the origins of

aberrant or destructive behavior. See the essay “Defining Public Health” for

more explanation.

374 A detailed extrapolation will be presented in part III of this text.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

133

Many of these occupations are not enjoyed

375

and are arguably

irrelevant with respect to true personal or social contribution and

development.

So, if we wish to think about what freedom means on a basic

level, it means being able to direct your life in the way you wish,

within reason.

376

Being able to live your life without worrying about

your basic survival and health, or that of your family, is the first step.

Likewise, the labor for income system is one of the most “unfree”

institutions that could exist today not only with respect to the inherent

economic coercion, but also with respect to the corporate structure

itself, which is quite literally a top-down, hierarchical dictatorship.

Sadly, even with these possibilities present and real, the value

system disorder built from the capitalist model and its rather paranoid

fear of anything outside of it, has and will continue to fight these

possibilities for more elevated states of freedom. In fact, the very idea

of providing basic social support in the form of “welfare” or the like is

attacked, in part, on the basis of its avoidance of facilitating the open

market – the very market that, in reality, likely created the

impoverished state of those who need such assistance.

As a final note on the subject of “freedom”, capitalist theory,

both historical and modern, is devoid of any relationship to the Earth's

resources and its governing ecological laws. Apart from the most

primitive awareness of scarcity, which is a marker of the common

“supply and demand” value theory, the scientific nature of the world is

absent in this model - it is “external”. This omission, paired with the

exploitation and cost reducing reality inherent to the incentive system

of the market, is what has generated the vast environmental

problems, from soil depletion, to pollution, to deforestation, to virtually

everything else we can think of on the ecological level.

In analyzing the early development of this philosophy, we can

logically speculate about how this came to be. Given the largely

agrarian base of production and the minimalism of early “handicraft”

type good production, our capacity at that time to negatively affect the

environment was inherently limited. We simply did not pose as much

of a threat since the vast edifice of industry as we know it today had

not evolved.

This development reveals that under the surface of capitalism is

an old perspective, which is growing increasingly out of date, with

ever-occurring repercussions resulting as our technological capacity

375 Reference: “New Survey: Majority of Employees Dissatisfied”, Forbes,

Susan Adams 2012

(http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/05/18/new-survey-

majority-of-employees-dissatisfied/)

376 Naturally, there can be no “pure” freedom in the natural world that is

governed by the laws of nature, nor can unlimited freedom exist in a social

condition that deals with life standard requirements for social stability. For

example, one is not “free” to murder another in a direct sense. Such social

contracts and values exist around not abusing others because they ease

imbalance and destabilization.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

134

increases our ability to affect the world. A parallel would be the

institution of war. Competitive values and warfare were a tolerable

reality when the damage done was limited to primitive muskets

centuries ago. Today, we have nuclear weapons that can destroy

everything.

377

So, taking an evolutionary view, capitalism has been a

practice and value orientation that did help progress in certain ways,

but all trend evidence now shows that the inherent immaturity of the

system will lead to ever increasing problems if it persists.

The “Marketization” of Life.

As a final point of this essay, the trend of the ever-increasing

marketization of life has created a deep distortion of values in the

world. Since “freedom” has been culturally associated with

“democracy” and democracy in the economic sense has been

associated with the ability to buy and sell, the commodification of just

about everything one can think of has been occurring.

Traditional values and rhetoric of prior generations have often

viewed the use of money in some ways as something of a “cold”

necessity, with some elements of our lives considered “sacred” and not

for sale. The act of prostitution, for example, in which people sell

intimacy for money is a situation where cultural values usually find

alienation. In most countries the act is illegal, even though there is

little legal justification since sexual engagement itself is legal. It is only

when the element of purchase comes into play, is it deemed

reprehensible.

However, such sanctities that have been culturally perpetuated

are becoming increasingly overturned by the market mindset. Today,

whether legal or not, nearly anything can be bought or sold.

378

You

can buy the right to bypass carbon emissions regulations,

379

you can

upgrade your prison cell for a fee,

380

buy the right to hunt endangered

animals,

381

and even buy your way into a prestigious university

without meeting testing requirements.

382

It becomes a strange state when some of the most normal,

natural acts of human life become incentivized by money as well, such

377 Albert Einstein was quoted as saying, "I know not with what weapons World

War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and

stones." (The New Quotable Einstein, Alice Calaprice, Princeton University

Press. 2005 p.173)

378 Reference: What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets, Michael J.

Sandel, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012

379 Reference: Data can be viewed online with respect to the EU at

www.pointcarbon.com

380 Source: “For $82 a Day, Booking a Cell in a 5-Star Jail”, New York Times,

April 29, 2007

381 Source: “Saving the Rhino Through Sacrifice”, Brendan Borrell, Bloomberg

Businessweek, December 9, 2010

382 Source: “At Many Colleges, the Rich Kids Get Affirmative Action: Seeking

Donors”, Daniel Golden, Wall Street. Journal, February 20, 2003

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

135

as how it is being used to encourage children to read,

383

or encourage

weight loss.

384

Psychologically, what does it mean for a child when

they are reinforced with money for their most basic actions? How will

this affect their future sense of reward? These are important questions

in a world for sale, with the guiding value principle that it is only when

one makes money from an action, is that action worth doing.

Such market values appear as a clear social distortion as the

very essence of human initiative and existence is being transformed.

While we might not take much extreme concern over seemingly trivial

issues such as the fact one can purchase access to the carpool lane

while driving solo,

385

the larger manifestation of a culture built on the

edifice of everything being for sale, is the dehumanization of society as

everyone and everything is reduce to a mere commodity for exploit.

Today, as shocking as it is, there are actually more slaves in the

world than anytime in human history. Human trafficking has and

continues to be a massive industry for profit, selling men, women and

children into various roles.

The US Department of State has published “It is estimated that

as many as 27 million men, women, and children around the world are

victims of what is now often described with the umbrella term “human

trafficking.” The work that remains in combating this crime is the work

of fulfilling the promise of freedom—freedom from slavery for those

exploited and the freedom for survivors to carry on with their lives.”

386

In the end, while most people who believe in the free market

capitalist system would ethically stand in outrage at these vast human

abuses occurring in the world, usually making distinctions between

“moral and “amoral” forms of trade, the fact of the matter is that the

commodification concept itself can draw no objective lines and such

“extreme” realities are, in truth, simply a matter of degree with

respect to application. From a purely philosophical standpoint, there is

no technical difference between any form of market exploitation. The

psychology inherent – the value system disorder – has and will

continue to perpetuate a predatory disregard within the culture and it

is only when that structural mechanism is removed from our very

approach to societal organization, will the aforementioned issues find

resolution.

383 Source: “Is Cash the Answer”, Amanda Ripley, Time, April 19, 2010, pp.44-

45

384 Source: “Paying people to lose weight and stop smoking”, Kevin G. Volpp,

Issue Brief, L.D. Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania,

vol. 14, 2009

385 Source: “Paying for VIP Treatment in a Traffic Jam”, Wall Street Journal,

June 21 2007

386 Source: Trafficking in Persons Report 2012, US Department of State

(http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2012/192351.htm)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

136

-STRUCTURAL CLASSISM, THE STATE AND WAR-

Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own

flag, and sneers at the other nations, and keeps multitudinous uniformed

assassins on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other people's countries,

and keep them from grabbing slices of his. And in the intervals between

campaigns he washes the blood of his hands and works for "the universal

brotherhood of man"- with his mouth.

387

- Mark Twain

Overview

Human conflict has been a consistent characteristic of society since the

beginning of recorded history. While justifications of this have ranged

from assumptions of immutable human propensities towards

aggression and territoriality, to the religious notion of polarized

metaphysical powers at work, such as forces of “good” and “evil”,

history has revealed that cases of conflict generally have a rational

correlation to environmental circumstances and/or cultural conditions.

From the immediate, fearful stress reaction of our “fight or flight”

propensity,

388

to the calm, calculated planning of strategic national

warfare, there is always a reason for such conflict and the general

public's interest to reduce conflict naturally requires we fully assess

causality as deeply as we can to consider tangible solutions.

This essay will examine two general categories of “warfare”:

“imperial warfare” and “class warfare”. While perhaps seemingly

different, it will be argued that the root psychological mechanisms of

these two categorizations are basically the same, along with how some

of the actual mechanisms of “battle” are actually much more elusive or

covert than many recognize. Overall, the central thesis is that the

source of these seemingly immutable realities resides within the

socioeconomic premise itself - in the context of a certain reinforced

psychology and hence sociological schemata - not rigid determinations

in our genes or lack of some moral aptitude.

Put another way, these present realities are not fueled by

ideologically isolated groups such as, for example, a rogue country’s

government or some exceptionally “greedy” business mentality – but

rather by the most fundamental, underlying values inherent to

virtually everyone's lives in the current socioeconomic condition we

perpetuate as culturally “normal”. The only difference is the degree to

which these values are harnessed and for what purpose.

387 Source: “Man's place in the animal world”, What is Man? And other

Irreverent Essays, Mark Twain, 1896, p.157

388 “The fight-or-flight response” (or the acute stress response) was first

described by American physiologist Walter Bradford Cannon. His theory

states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the

sympathetic nervous system, priming the animal for fighting or fleeing.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

137

Imperial War: Rise of the State

The Neolithic Revolution some 12,000 years ago

389

marked a pivotal

turning point for human society as it transitioned us from almost

exclusively “living off the land” - limited to the habitat's natural

regeneration – to an accelerating trend of environmental control and

resource manipulation. The development of agriculture and the

creation of labor-easing tools was the beginning of what can be

observed today, where the spectrum of the human capacity to utilize

science for the alteration of the world for our advantage appears

virtually unlimited.

390

However, this initially slow technological adaptation has set in

motion certain patterns and changes which have arguably generated

many of the problems we recognize as all too common today. An

example would be how imbalance through relative poverty and

economic stratification has taken hold as an apparent consequence of

this new capacity. In the words of neuroscientist and anthropologist

Dr. Robert Sapolsky: “Hunter-gatherers [had] thousands of wild

sources of food to subsist on. Agriculture changed all that, generating

an overwhelming reliance on a few dozen food sources...Agriculture

allowed for the stockpiling of surplus resources and thus, inevitably,

the unequal stockpiling of them, stratification of society and the

invention of classes. Thus it has allowed for the invention of

poverty.”

391

Likewise, the rather nomadic lifestyle of the hunter-gatherer

slowly became replaced with settled, protectionist tribes and then

eventually localized city-type societies. In the words of Richard A.

Gabriel in the work A Short History of War: “The invention and spread

of agriculture coupled with the domestication of animals in the fifth

millennium B.C. are acknowledged as the developments that set the

stage for the emergence of the first large-scale, complex urban

societies. These societies, which appeared almost simultaneously

around 4000 B.C. in both Egypt and Mesopotamia, used stone tools,

but within 500 years stone tools and weapons gave way to bronze.

With bronze manufacture came a revolution in warfare.”

392

This is also the period that the concept of the “state” as we

389 Sometimes also called the Agricultural Revolution, it was the world's first

historically verifiable revolution in agriculture. It was the wide-scale

transition of many human cultures from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering

to one of agriculture and settlement that supported an increasingly large

population and the basis for modern social patterns today.

390 Reference: Exponentially Accelerating Information Technologies Could Put

an End to Corporations

(http://scienceprogress.org/2011/06/exponentially-growing-information-

technology-will-put-an-end-to-corporations/)

391 Source: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, Robert Sapolsky, W. H. Freeman,

1998, p.383

392 Source: A Short History of War: The Evolution of Warfare and Weapons,

Richard A Gabriel, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College,

Chapter 1, 1992

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

138

know it and the permanence of the “armed force” emerged. Gabriel

continues: “These early societies produced the first examples of state-

governing institutions, initially as centralized chiefdoms and later as

monarchies...At the same time, centralization demanded the creation

of an administrative structure capable of directing social activity and

resources toward communal goals...The development of central state

institutions and a supporting administrative apparatus inevitably gave

form and stability to military structures. The result was the expansion

and stabilization of the formerly loose and unstable warrior castes...By

2700 B.C. in Sumer there was a fully articulated military structure and

standing army organized along modern lines. The standing army

emerged as a permanent part of the social structure and was endowed

with strong claims to social legitimacy. And it has been with us ever

since.”

393

Imperial War: Illusions

“Imperialism” is defined as: “the policy, practice, or advocacy of

extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct

territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or

economic life of other areas.”

394

While traditional culture might generally think of imperial war

as a variation of war in general, assuming other forms of armed,

national conflict, it is argued here that the root basis of all national

wars are actually imperial in nature. The literally thousands of wars in

recorded human history have had to do mostly with the acquisition of

resources or territory, where one group is either working to expand its

power and material wealth, or working to protect itself from others

trying to conquer and absorb their power and wealth.

Even many historical conflicts, which on the surface appear to

be for the purposes of pure ideology, are often actually hidden imperial

economic moves. The Christian Crusades of the 11

th

century, for

example, are often defined as strictly religious conflicts or expressions

of ideological fervor. Yet, a deeper investigation reveals a powerful

undertone of trade expansion and resource acquisition, under the

guise of the “religious” war.

395

This is not to say that religions have not

been a source of tremendous conflict historically, but to show that

there is often an oversimplification found in many historical texts, with

the economic relevance often missed or ignored. Regardless, the

notion of the “moral” crusade as a form of cover for national, economic

imperialism continues to this day.

396

393 Ibid.

394 Source: Merriam-Webster.com (http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/imperialism)

395 Reference: Economic Development of the North Atlantic Community,

Dudley Dillard, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1967, pp.3-178.

396 The use of religion to generate political support for imperial acts of war is

quite common historically. Even in the United States today, politicians, with

respect to recent military actions, have consistently made a general

undertone of religious war or of acting on the behalf of “God”. Islamic and

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

139

In fact, there is a deeply coercive tendency witnessed

throughout history when it comes to gaining public support for the act

of national warfare. For instance, a cursory review of history will find

that all “offensive” acts of war, meaning war initiated by a given power

for whatever reason (not a response to direct invasion), originate from

the constituents and associates of the governmental body - not the

citizenry. Wars tend to begin with some kind of announced suggestion

emanating from state power; then fueled by the corporate-state

supported media;

397

with the citizenry slowly groomed to appreciate

the suggestion. It also helps the state a great deal if there is some

form of emotionally striking provocation as well, which can be

manipulated to further justify the intended war.

398

Jewish states appear to do the same thing, along with states. The Israeli-

Palestinian conflict, for example, which is generally acknowledged as a

deeply religious conflict for “holy” territory, reveals, upon closer inspection,

that religion, while perhaps a real factor in the public mind overall, is

actually not the root of the conflict. The real root appears to be elite

imperialism and resource acquisition in general, with religion used as means

to foster and maintain public support. Reference:

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/globebeyond/israel-palestine-not-a-

religious-conflict/558353

397 State supported media is commonly defined as media produced by direct

funding from a country's government. While this is still common in the world

and often subject to state propaganda, in the United States, a similar yet

more obscure form has emerged - something we could call corporate-state

supported media. Corporate statism is a form of "corporatism" whose

adherents hold that the corporate group is the basis of society and the

state. The poetic tradition of the "free press" in the US, being without

"regulation" or "interference", is a long-standing value and assumption. Yet,

when we factor in the reality of the increasing concentration of major media

outlets, such as the fact that as of 2012 six corporations control 90% of

them* - coupled with the basic understanding that there is little to no

separation between the government and its corporations by default in the

Capitalist rooted socioeconomic model between the government and its

corporations - it is difficult to defend the idea that the most dominant news

outlets exist without ideological influence towards preserving the status quo

since they are so bound up with it. With respect to the initiation of war, a

statistical review of historical media for the past 100 years will show a deep

support by all major news outlets towards the government's interests.

*Source: (http://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-

90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6)

398 Former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski understood this

well, and stated in his famous work The Grand Chessboard: American

Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives: "The attitude of the American

public toward the external projection of American power has been much

more ambivalent. The public supported America's engagement in World War

II largely because of the shock effect of the Japanese attack on Pearl

Harbor. (Basic Books Publishing, 1998, pp.24-25) “...as America becomes

an increasingly multi-cultural society, it may find it more difficult to fashion

a consensus on foreign policy issues, except in the circumstance of a truly

massive and widely perceived direct external threat."(Basic Books

Publishing, 1998, p.211)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

140

Such tactics for the manipulation of a citizenry can take many

forms. The use of fear, honor (revenge), patriotic paternalism,

399

morality, and the “common defense” are likely the most common

ploys. In fact, invariably all acts of war are justified as “defensive” in

the public sphere, even if there is no rational, tangible public threat to

be found. Yet, there is, indeed, a core truth to this notion of

“defensive” war,

400

since acts of imperial mobilization are based on a

very real, yet obscure form of economic and/or political fear – the fear

of losing control or power. In other words, while there may not be a

direct, immediate threat to a given, aggressor nation – the long term

competitive need to continually re-secure its existing power from

possible future loss is a very real and founded fear. So, in effect, this

“defense” is that of elitist, upper-class self-preservation and hence

usually morally unjustifiable to the public in its true terms; hence

these ploys are used instead to gain public approval.

401

Economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen, in his famous

1917 work An Inquiry Into The Nature Of Peace And The Terms Of Its

Perpetuation wrote the following on the subject of public persuasion:

“Any warlike enterprise that is hopeful to be entered on must have the

moral sanction of the community or of an effective majority in the

community. It consequently becomes the first concern of the warlike

statesman to put this moral force in train for the adventure on which

he is bent. And there are two main lines of motivation...the

preservation or furtherance of the community's material interest, real

or fancied - and vindication of the national honor. To these should

perhaps be added a third, the advancement and perpetuation of the

399 The term paternalism is defined as: “a system under which an authority

undertakes to supply needs or regulate conduct of those under its control.”

(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paternalism) The term

“patriotic paternalism” denotes the assumption that a sovereign nation

knows better than another and hence it works to influence and take control

of the nation for the supposed benefit of its people.

400 In the modern day, the term “preemptive war” is commonly used to justify

an act of aggression by the claim it is a defensive move to thwart a looming

attack of some kind by the target.

401 Former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski expresses this

“paternalistic defense” clearly in his work The Grand Chessboard: American

Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives. He states with respect to the

need for America to essentially remain in control of the world: "America is

now the only global superpower, and Eurasia is the globe's central arena.

Hence, what happens to the distribution of power on the Eurasian continent

will be of decisive importance to America's global primacy and to America's

historical legacy." (Basic Books Publishing, 1998, p.194) "To put it in a

terminology that harkens back to the more brutal age of ancient empires,

the three grand imperatives of imperial geostrategy are to prevent collusion

and maintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tributaries

pliant and protected, and to keep the barbarians from coming together."

(Ibid., p.40) "Henceforth, the United States may have to determine how to

cope with regional coalitions that seek to push America out of Eurasia,

thereby threatening America's status as a global power." (Ibid, p.55)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

141

nations culture.”

402

This last point on the perpetuation of the nation's culture is

best exemplified with the common, modern Western imperial claims of

seeking to spread “Freedom and Democracy”. This claim takes a

paternal position, positing the idea that the current political climate of

a targeted nation is simply too inhumane and intervention to “help” its

citizens becomes a “moral obligation” of the invading power.

Veblen Continues: “Any Patriotism will serve as ways and

means to warlike enterprise under competent management, even if

[the people are] not habitually prone to a bellicose temper. Rightly

managed, ordinary patriotic sentiment may readily be mobilized for

warlike adventure by any reasonably adroit and single-minded body of

statesmen - of which there is abundant illustration.”

403

“...it is [also]

quite a safe generalization that when hostilities have once been got

fairly underway by the interested statesman, the patriotic sentiment of

the nation may confidently be counted on to back the enterprise,

irrespective of the merits of the quarrel”.

404

In America, the phrase “I'm against the war but support the

troops”

405

is common among those who oppose a given conflict but

wish to be viewed as still respectful of their country in general. This

phrase is unique as it is actually irrational. To logically “support the

troops” would mean to support the role of being a “troop”, hence the

acts that are required by that role. The implicit gesture, of course, is

that one supports the need for war and hence supports the men and

women of the armed forces who assist that need. Yet, the statement

itself is fully contradictory and exists as a form of “doublethink”,

406

as

to disagree with the existence of a certain war is to wholly disagree

with actions of those who engage it. It is similar to saying, “I'm

against cancer killing people but I support cancer's right to life”.

The armed forces have historically been held in high public

esteem by a citizenry and the government continually glorifies this to

the extent that the assumption of “honor” takes on an irrational life of

its own. In fact, it is compounded psychologically by a built-in

ceremonialism. Honor is formalized through awards, medals, parades,

postures of respect and other adornments which impress the public as

to the supposed value of the actions of the soldiers and hence the

institution of war. This further reinforces the cultural taboo where to

insult any element of the war apparatus is seen as showing disrespect

for the sacrifice of the armed forces.

From the standpoint of true protection and problem resolution,

402 Source: An Inquiry Into the Nature of Peace and the Terms of Its

Perpetuation, Thorstein Veblen, Echo Library, 1917 p.16

403 Ibid., p.7

404 Ibid., p.16

405 Reference: Can You Support the Troops but Not the War? Troops Respond

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-rieckhoff/can-you-support-the-

troop_b_26192.html)

406 “Doublethink” a term coined by George Orwell which describes the act of

simultaneously accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

142

as would be the “honorable” case of a firefighter who saves a child

from a burning building, this admiration is warranted. The selfless,

altruistic position of putting one's life at risk for the benefit of another

is naturally a noble act. However, in the context of historical warfare,

the personal altruism of a soldier does not justify broad acts of

national, imperial aggression, no matter how well intentioned the

soldiers may be.

Furthermore, this fear-oriented power preservation by the

established governmental apparatus also naturally generates a “sub-

war” against the domestic citizenry itself, almost always amplified in

times of war. Those who challenge or oppose a given national conflict

have historically been met with direct oppression and, by cultural

extension, public resentment. The common yet ambiguous legal

violations of “treason”

407

and “sedition”

408

are historical examples of

this, along with the pattern of suspending the rights of citizens during

times of war, sometimes even including free speech.

409

Socially, the use of “patriotism”, as noted before, is also very

common to the effect that those who do not support a war are often

dismissed as not supporting the national citizenry by extension,

creating alienation. More recently, those in opposition and perhaps

engaging in protest actions have been considered “terrorists” by the

state,

410

a powerful incrimination with severe legal consequences if

deemed true by the authorities.

However, this “sub-war” can be deconstructed into an even

deeper mechanism - what could be called a kind of social control in

support of imperial intent. In many countries today, either by

obligation from birth

411

or by persuasion to legally binding contracts

412

the pressure or motivation to join the military itself is manipulative on

407 “Treason” is defined as: “the offense of attempting by overt acts to

overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes

allegiance” Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/treason

408 “Sedition” is defined as: “incitement of resistance to or insurrection against

lawful authority” Source: http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/sedition

409 From World War II's Japanese-American Internment camps that imprisoned

over 127,000 US citizens, (Source: http://www.ushistory.org/us/51e.asp)

to the suspension of civil liberties as such as “habeas corpus”, (Source:

http://www.salon.com/2009/04/11/bagram_3/) to the prosecution for mere

speech, (Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-congress-

passes-sedition-act) rights violations during wartime is an historical

constant.

410 A recent example of this was the “Occupy Movement” uprising that was

later revealed to be considered a possible “terrorist threat” by the FBI.

(Source: http://www.justiceonline.org/commentary/fbi-files-ows.html)

411 Israel, for example, enforces near full conscription of its citizens. (Source:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/07/20127853118591495.

html)

412 Reference: “Why Is Getting Out of the U.S. Army So Tough?”, Time, 2012

(http://nation.time.com/2012/05/04/why-is-getting-out-of-the-u-s-army-

so-tough/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

143

many levels. Advertising tactics such as “money for college” or

“personal accomplishment” are common, arguably targeting the lower

rungs of the economic hierarchy.

413

The United States is on record for

having at times spent billions a year ($4.7 billion in 2009) on global

public relations in assist public image and recruitment.

414

Imperial War: Source

When the traditional, propagandized illusions in defense of the act of

organized human murder and resource theft have been overridden,

dismissing such shallow justifications as paternal patriotism, honor and

protectionism, we find that war today is actually an inherent

characteristic of the propertied, scarcity-driven business system. It

would be false to say that war is a product of capitalism in and of itself

since the practice of war predates capitalism extensively. However,

when we deconstruct the premise itself we see that war is, indeed, a

central, immutable feature of capitalism as it is simply a more

sophisticated manifestation of these same, divisive, competitive,

archaic values and practices.

Just as a corporation competes with other corporations of the

same genre for income survival, invariably seeking monopoly and

cartel when it can, all governments on the planet are fundamentally

premised on the same form of survival by extension. Using America as

a case study, in 2011 the country gained about $2.3 trillion in federal

income tax revenues alone.

415

These revenues are important to the

operation of what is, in effect, the business institution known as

“America”, in the same way the annual earnings of Microsoft affect its

ability to function. America is, in truth, a corporation in function and

form; with all the registered businesses existing in its domestic legal

web to be considered subsidiaries of this parent institution we

traditionally call the “US government”.

Therefore, all actions of the US government, along with all

competing governments in the world, must naturally keep an acute

business acumen in operation. However, what separates this “parent

corporation” (America) from its subsidiary sectors (corporations) is the

scale of its capacity to preserve itself and keep a competitive edge. Its

necessity to preserve the core drivers of its economy is crucial and a

cursory glance at history regarding how the US was able to gain and

maintain its status of a global “empire”, shows this business acumen

clearly. The manifestation is really little different in principle than how

a specific corporation seeks to gain a commercial monopoly. Only in

413 Reference: “Military recruiters target isolated, depressed areas”, Seattle

Times, 2005

(http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2002612542_recruits09.html)

414 Source: “Pentagon Spending Billions on PR to Sway World Opinion”, Fox

News, 2010 (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/02/05/pentagon-

spending-billions-pr-sway-world-opinion/)

415 Source: “Federal Revenues by Source”, Heritage.com, 2012

(http://www.heritage.org/federalbudget/federal-revenue-sources]

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

144

this case the ideal of global monopoly (empire) is not restricted by

legal mandate as is commonly claimed by the domestic legal restraint

- it is forcefully executed in the theater of imperial war.

In fact, interestingly enough but not unexpectedly, the very

act of this self-preservation through military might have itself become

a powerfully lucrative business venture which often improves the

economic state of the nation and hence profits to its corporate

constituents. Today, we can extend these economic benefits to the

massive military expenditures

416

417

along with the reconstruction of

war-torn areas by the conquering states' commercial subsidiaries,

418

the slow prodding of a country's integrity through trade tariffs,

sanctions and debt impositions for the sake of population subjugation

for the benefit of transcontinental industries

419

420

and many other

modern “economic war” conventions.

This point was likely best expressed by one of America's most

decorated army officers of the 20

th

century: Major General Smedley D.

Butler.

421

Butler was the author of a famous book released after World

War I titled War is a Racket, and stated the following with respect to

the business of war: “War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly

the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the

only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits

are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.”

422

He also wrote in 1935: “I spent 33 years and four months in

active military service and during that period I spent most of my time

as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the

bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I

helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil

interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the

416 Reference: The 25 Most Vicious Iraq War Profiteers, BusinessPundit.com,

2008 (http://www.businesspundit.com/the-25-most-vicious-iraq-war-

profiteers)

417 Reference: Ten Companies Profiting Most from War, 247WallSt.com, 2012

(http://247wallst.com/2012/02/28/ten-companies-profiting-most-from-

war/)

418 Reference: Advocates of War Now Profit From Iraq's Reconstruction,

LATimes.com, 2004 (http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jul/14/nation/na-

advocates14)

419 Reference: Deadly Sanctions Regime: Economic Warfare against Iran,

GlobalResearch.ca, 2012 (http://www.globalresearch.ca/deadly-sanctions-

regime-economic-warfare-against-iran/5305921)

420 Reference: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: How the U.S. Uses

Globalization to Cheat Poor Countries Out of Trillions, DemocracyNow.org,

2004

(http://www.democracynow.org/2004/11/9/confessions_of_an_economic_hi

t_man)

421 Reference: Banana Wars: Major General Smedley Butler, About.com

(http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/1900s/p/Banana-Wars-Major-General-

Smedley-Butler.htm)

422 Source: War is a Racket, Smedley D. Butler, William H Huff Publishing,

1935, Chapter 1, p.1

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

145

National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of

half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I

helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown

Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for

the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right

for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped

see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back

on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do

was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three

continents.”

423

John A. Hobson's (1858-1940) monumental work Imperialism:

A Study described the tendency as a “social parasitic process by which

a moneyed interest within the state, usurping the reins of government,

makes for imperial expansion in order to fasten economic suckers into

foreign bodies so as to drain them of their wealth in order to support

domestic luxury.”

424

Now, many would think about these acts of abuse as a form of

“corruption” but this reasoning is difficult to justify in the broad view.

The ethical and moral argument of “fair” and “unfair” has no cogent

integrity within the system framework inherent to capitalism. This is

one of the unfortunate failures of realization by those who are active in

the message of “world peace” or “anti-war” activism but yet still

defend the competitive market model. In other words, “world peace”

appears simply not a possibility within the currently accepted model of

economic practice.

Every step of the application of global capitalism, starting from

its European inception, has been associated with vast violence,

exploitation and subjugation. European colonialism,

425

the capture of

African “slaves” for use and sale, the forced subjugation of countless

colonial peoples, and the creation of privileged sanctuaries of

profiteering and power for the many government-created or

government-protected businesses, only touches the surface of its

inherent character as a “war system” of thought.

Thorstein Veblen, again writing from 1917, makes the direct

connection to what he called the “pecuniary” or monetary foundation

of war: “It has appeared in the course of the argument that the

preservation of the present pecuniary law and order, with all its

incident of ownership and investment, is incompatible with an

unwarlike state of peace and security. This current scheme of

investment, business, and [Industrial] sabotage, should have an

appreciably better chance of survival in the long run if the present

423 Originally in Common Sense, 1935. Reproduced in Hans Schmidt's

Maverick Marine: General Smedley D. Butler and the Contradictions of

American Military History. University Press of Kentucky, 1998 p.231

424 Source: Imperialism: A Study, J.A. Hobson, University of Michigan Press,

Ann Arbor, 1965, p.367

425 Reference: Western Colonialism defined:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/126237/colonialism-Western]

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

146

conditions of warlike preparation and national “insecurity” were

maintained, or if the projected peace were left in a somewhat

problematic state, sufficiently precarious to keep national animosities

alert...”

426

“So, if the projectors of this peace at large are in any

degree inclined to seek concessive terms on what the peace might

hopefully be made enduring, it should evidently be part of their

endeavors from the outset to put events in train for the present

abatement and eventual abrogation of the rights of ownership and of

the price-system in which these rights take effect.”

427

Further evidence of this context can be found in the more

modern forms of indirect violence. These include “economic warfare”

approaches, as mentioned before, which can serve as complete acts of

aggression in and of themselves, or as a part of a procedural prelude

to traditional military action. Examples come in the form of trade

tariffs, sanctions, debt by coercion, and many other lesser-known,

covert methods to weaken a country.

428

Global financial institutions such as the World Bank and IMF

have heavy vested state and hence business interests behind them

and they have the power to allocate debt to “bailout” suffering

countries at the expense of the quality of life of its citizenry, often

taking charge of natural resources or industries through select

privatization or other manners which can weaken a country's ability to

the effect that it becomes reliant on others, to the advantage of

commercial outsiders.

429

This is simply a more covert manner of subjugation than was

seen, say, with the British Empire's imperial expansion through its

“East India Company” - the commercial force that took advantage of

the newly conquered regional resources and labor in Asia in the 17

th

century.

430

However, unlike British Empire expansion, American

empire expansion did not gain its status through military action alone,

even though such a presence is still enormous globally.

431

Rather, the

426 Source: An Inquiry Into the Nature of Peace and the Terms of Its

Perpetuation, Thorstein Veblen, B.W. Hubsch, 1917 pp.366-367

427 Ibid. p.367

428 Reference: Our Economic Warfare, ForeignAffairs.com

(http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/70162/percy-w-bidwell/our-

economic-warfare)

429 As noted by research by the STWR regarding the World Bank: “In most of

its client countries, it is virtually the only doorway to access international

trade, development finance and private investment capital. It derives its

power and policy agendas from its wealthiest shareholders – governments

that comprise the G-7...who routinely use the Bank to secure lucrative trade

and investment deals in developing countries for their respective

transnational corporations (TNCs).” Source: IMF, World Bank & Trade,

STWR (http://www.stwr.org/imf-world-bank-trade/corporate-power-and-

influence-in-the-world-bank.html)

430 Reference: East India Company, Britannica.com

(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/176643/East-India-Company)

431 As of 2011, it has been reported that the US military exists in over 130

countries, with an estimated 900 bases. Source: Ron Paul says U.S. has

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

147

use of complex economic strategies that repositioned other countries

into subjugation to US economic and geo-economic interests was

made common.

432

Class War: Inherent Psychology

Moving on to the “class war” this notion has been noted in historical

literature for centuries based partly on assumptions of human nature,

partly on assumptions of a lack of capacity of the Earth and production

means to meet everyone's needs and partly on the more relevant

awareness that the system of market capitalism inevitably guarantees

class division and imbalance due to its inherent mechanisms, both

structurally and psychologically.

Founding free market economist David Ricardo's statement

that “If wages should rise...then... profits would necessarily fall”

433

is a

simple acknowledgment of the structural assurance of class conflict as

the wage relates to the lower “working class” and the profits the upper

“capitalist class” and as one gains, the other loses. Likewise, even

Adam Smith in his canonical The Wealth of Nations clearly expresses

the nature of power preservation on the behavioral (psychological)

level, stating: “Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the

security of property, is in reality instituted for the defense of the rich

against the poor, or of those who have some property against those

who have none at all.”

434

However, the true use of government for the purposes of the

upper or business class seems to be stubbornly ignored by Smith,

Ricardo and even many of today's economists, who seem unable or

unwilling to take into account present-day events. Even the most

committed, laissez-faire market economist still expresses the need for

government and its legal apparatus to exist as something of a

“referee” to keep the game “fair”. Terms such a “crony-capitalism” are

often used under the assumption that “collusion” between a

governmental constituency and the seemingly detached corporate

institutions is of an unethical or “criminal” nature.

Yet again, as noted before, it is illogical to assume that the

nature of government is anything else at its core than a vehicle to

support the businesses that comprise the wealth of that country. The

business apparatus really is the country in technical form, regardless

of the surface claim that a “democratic” country is organized around

the interests of the citizenry itself. In fact, it can be well argued that

military personnel in 130 nations and 900 overseas bases, politifact.com,

2011 (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-

meter/statements/2011/sep/14/ron-paul/ron-paul-says-us-has-military-

personnel-130-nation/)

432 Reference: Why the Developing World Hates the World Bank,

TheTechOnline, 2002 (http://tech.mit.edu/V122/N11/col11parek.11c.html)

433 Source: The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, David Ricardo,

1821, Dent Edition, 1962,p.64

434 Source: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,

Adam Smith, 1776, par. V.1.2

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

148

no government in recorded history has ever offered its citizens a

legitimate place in governance or legislation and within the context of

modern capitalism, which is still a manifestation of centuries old values

and assumptions with a clear elitism in intent, it is interesting how this

myth of “democracy” perpetuates itself today in the way that it does.

To further this point, one of the architects of the US

Constitution of the United States, James Madison, expressed his

concern very clearly regarding the need to oppress the political power

of those in the lower classes. He stated: “In England, at this day, if

elections were open to all classes of people, the property of landed

proprietors would be insecure. An agrarian law would soon take place.

If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the

permanent interests of the country against innovation. Landholders

ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable

interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so

constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the

majority. The senate, therefore, ought to be this body; and to answer

these purposes, they ought to have permanency and stability.”

435

So, starting with this awareness that the very premise of

global “democracy” is deeply inhibited by the capitalist incentive

system to competitively maintain power on the level of the state to

assist the upper class in preserving political and, by extension,

financial power, a clearer picture of how deep this class war runs is

obtained. Likely the most striking aspect of this is how such

mechanisms of class division exist in our every day lives but yet go

unseen since they are structurally built in to the financial, political and

legal apparatus itself.

Class War: Structural Mechanisms

In the modern day, with 40 percent of the planet's wealth being owned

by 1 percent of the world's population,

436

we find that both in terms of

system structure and incentive psychology, powerful mechanisms exist

to maintain and even accelerate this grossly disproportionate global

wealth imbalance. Needless to say, given the financial basis of

everything in the world today, with great wealth comes great power.

Hence, as described prior, this power enables a more robust strategy

for competitive gain and self-preservation and consequently it has

hence extended into the very structure of the social system itself,

assuring that the upper class has great ease in maintaining their vast

wealth security, while the lower classes face enormous structural

barriers to attaining any basic level of financial security.

Some mechanisms of this class war oppression are fairly

obvious. For instance, the debate over taxation, and how there has

435 Source: Notes of the Secret Debates of the Federal Convention of 1787,

Robert Yates, Alston Mygatt, p.183

436 Reference: One percent holds 39 percent of global wealth, RawStory.com,

2011 (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/31/one-percent-holds-39-

percent-of-global-wealth/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

149

been an historical favoring of the corporate rich over the working poor,

is one example.

437

The argument of the establishment usually revolves

around the idea that since the rich are also the “ownership class” and

are partly responsible for the generation of general employment, they

should be given more financial freedom.

438

As an aside, it is easy to

see that there is very little true merit in this one-sided argument since

the financial oppression through public taxation is actually limiting the

purchasing power of the general public, creating an arguably more

powerful impediment to economic growth than the mere limiting of the

coffers of the corporate “employers”.

439

The only exception to this,

which transcends the argument of the rich as “job creators”, is the

advent of plutonomy, which will be addressed towards the end of this

essay.

Class favoring taxation aside, four other more critical structural

factors will be discussed: (a) debt, (b) interest, (c) inflation and (d)

income disparity.

(a) Debt is a misunderstood social practice in that most assume debt is

an option in society today. In reality, the entire financial system is

built out of debt, quite literally. All money is brought into existence

through loans in the modern economy, coming from central and

commercial banks who essentially create the money out of demand

itself.

440

This basic mechanism of monetary creation is a powerful force

of economic oppression. Household debt today tends to consist of

credit card loans, housing loans, car loans and student (educational)

loans. Those in the lower classes naturally hold higher levels of this

consumer debt than the upper class since the very nature of being

unable to pay outright for basic social staples, such a car or home,

forces the need for banks loans.

The result is that the pressure of debt is constant in the lives

of the vast majority.

441

442

443

The general wage and income rates

437 Reference: Poor Americans Pay Double The State, Local Tax Rates Of Top

One Percent, HuffingtonPost.com, 2012

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/21/poor-americans-state-local-

taxes_n_1903993.html)

438 Reference: Don't Tax the Job Creators, Cnbc.com, 2012

(http://www.cnbc.com/id/48290347/Don039t_Tax_the_Job_Creators_Romn

ey)

439 Reference: Private Debt Kills the Economy, GlobalResearch.ca, 2012

(http://www.globalresearch.ca/private-debt-kills-the-economy/5303842)

440 For a full treatment on the creation of money, see: Modern Money

Mechanics, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 1961

441 Reference: U.S. Credit Card Debt Grows, Fewer Americans Make Payments

On Time, HuffingtonPost.com, 2012

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/19/us-credit-card-debt-

grows_n_2158010.html)

442 Reference: Drowning In Medical Debt? Filing For Bankruptcy Could Be Your

Life Raft, BusinessInsider.com, 2012

(http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-01-

27/news/30669714_1_bankruptcy-filers-medical-debt-credit-score)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

150

being what they are on average, naturally as low as possible to assist

with the dominant capitalist ethos of cost-efficiency upon which the

entire society is engineered, the wage income made by the average

employee tends to only barely meet the basic loan servicing

requirements while in concert with meeting basic, everyday survival

needs. Hence a form of “running in place” is constant and the

possibility of social mobility up the class hierarchy is deeply impeded,

let alone the difficulty of simply getting out of debt itself.

444

(b) Interest: Coupled with debt is the profit attribute associated the

sale of money itself. Since the Capitalist market economy supports the

general commodification of virtually everything, it is no surprise that

money itself is sold into existence for profit and this comes in the form

of interest. Whether it is a central bank creating money in exchange

for government securities or a commercial bank making a mortgage

loan to an average person, interest fees are almost always attached.

As mentioned in previous essays, this creates the condition

where more debt is generated than actual money in circulation to

cover it. When a loan is made, only what is termed the “principal” is

produced. The money supply of any country consists of this principal in

form, which is the aggregate value of all loans made (money creation).

The interest fee, on the other hand, is not in existence. This means

that, on the social level, all those taking interest bearing loans must

find money from the preexisting money supply in order to cover it

when paying the loan back. In this process, since all interest paid is

being pulled from the principal, it is a mathematical eventuality that

certain loans simply cannot be repaid. There simply isn't enough

money in the system at any one time.

445

The result is an even more powerful downward class pressure

on those holding such basic, common loans since there is always this

basic scarcity in the money supply itself and everyone working to

service their loans have to contend with the inevitable reality that

someone is going to fail to meet their loan repayment in the long run.

Bankruptcy is a common result in those segments of society that get

this “short end of the stick”. Even more troubling is how the banking

mechanism reacts to those who are unable to fulfill their loan

443 Reference: The Debt That Won't Go Away, cnbc.com, 2010

(http://www.cnbc.com/id/40680905)

444 Reference: The American Household Is Digging Out of Debt in the Worst

Possible Way, TheAtlantic.com, 2013

(http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/01/the-american-

household-is-digging-out-of-debt-in-the-worst-possible-way/272657/)

445 A common objection to this analysis is the assumption that interest income

is also output into the money supply through savings accounts, C.D.s and

other such investments. However, this assumes that that money is being

created during the time of payment. This is not true. Interest income

payments are generated by the existing profits of the financial institution so

the assumption does not change the equation. The interest fee required for

payment simply doesn't exist in the money supply.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

151

obligation. The loan contract and legal system support the power of

banks, in most cases, to “repossess” the physical property of those

who cannot pay.

446

If we think deeply about this ability to “repossess”, it is

arguably an indirect form of theft. If it is inevitable that some will

succumb to not meeting their loan repayment due to the inherent

scarcity in the money supply, with the possible result of the physical

property obtained from that loaned money being repossessed by the

bank via contractual agreements, then the bank's acquisition of such

true, physical property is inevitable over time. This means the banks,

which are always owned by members of the upper class to be sure, are

taking houses, cars and property of the lower classes, simply because

the money they created out of thin air in the form of a loan is not

being returned to them. This is, in essence, a covert form of physical

wealth transfer from the lower to the upper class.

However, returning to the subject of interest itself, such

realities are of little direct concern to the upper class. Given the wealth

surplus inherent to their financial status, coupled with the lack of

necessity to even take loans most of the time due to this surplus, the

scarcity pressure inherent to the money supply due to interest fees

always falls on the shoulders of the lower classes. Also, the wealthy

are actually further class-protected as the phenomenon of investment

income via interest earned from large savings accounts, certificates of

deposit and other means, turns this vehicle of social oppression for the

poor into a vehicle of financial advantage for the rich.

447

(c) Inflation is generally defined as “The rate at which the general level

of prices for goods and services is rising, and, subsequently,

purchasing power is falling.”

448

Unfortunately this common definition

gives no insight into its true causality. While there has been debate as

to the true causes of inflation in different economic schools,

449

the

“Quantity Theory of Money”

450

has been proven as the most relevant.

In short, this theory simply recognizes that the more money in

446 It is interesting to point out as an aside that banking institutions by which

loans are obtained for a purchase - such as a home – are able to take the

full property regardless of the value paid in prior. Even if 99% of the loan is

paid off, they can still take 100% of the property if the final payments are

not made.

447 For example, a person who deposits $1 million into a C.D. at 3% interest

annually will generate $30,000 a year merely for that deposit alone. In

terms of percentage, 3% may not seem as that dramatic. In terms of

absolute value, compared to the income of the vast majority, it is quite

dramatic.

448 Source: Investopedia.com

(http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/inflation.asp#axzz2JypjmRJs)

449 Reference: Macroeconomics: Theory and Policy, Robert J. Gordon, ”Modern

theories of inflation” McGraw-Hill, 1988

450 “Quantity Theory of Money” defined source:

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/05/010705.asp#axzz2JypjmRJs

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

152

circulation, the more inflation or rising prices. In other words, all

things being equal, if we double the money supply, price levels will

also double, etc. The new money dilutes the value of the existing

money in a variation of the supply-demand theory of value.

The consequence of this is what we could call a “hidden tax”

on people's savings and fixed income rates. For example, let us

assume the inflation rate is 3.5% a year. If you have $30,000, in ten

years it will only buy about $21,000 worth of goods.

451

While this

might appear to have an equal effect for the whole of society, the

reality is that it deeply affects the poor much more than the rich when

it comes to survival. A person with 3 million dollars in savings is not

much hindered by the 3.5% loss of purchasing power. However, a

person with only $30,000 in savings, working to perhaps put a down

payment on a home in the future, is deeply affected by this hidden

tax.

In the context of structural classism, where fixed attributes of

the system itself assist in the oppression of the poor and helping of the

rich, the mechanism of this hidden tax in also immutably built in. The

inherent scarcity in the money supply forces new loans constantly in

the economy. Coupled with that is the now globally utilized monetary

expansion process known as the fractional reserve lending system.

452

Contrary to popular belief, most loans are not given from a

bank's existing deposits. They are invented in real time, limited only

by a set percentage of their existing deposits.

453

In short, due to this

process over time, it is currently possible that for every $10,000

deposited, about $90,000 can be created from it through the process

of ongoing loans and deposits across the entire banking system.

454

This pyramiding of money, coupled with the interest pressure that

creates scarcity in the money supply, reveals that the system is

inherently inflationary.

451 3.5% annual depreciation after 10 years. Original value $30,000 - Year 1:

$28,950; Year 2: $27,937; Year 3: $26,960; Year 4: $26,017; Year 5:

$25,107; Year 6: $24,229; Year 7: $23,381; Year 8: 22,563; Year 9:

$21,774; Year 10 $21,012

452 For a full treatment on the Fractional Reserve Lending, see: Modern Money

Mechanics, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 1961

453 To quote Modern Money Mechanics, a text produced by the Federal Reserve

Bank of Chicago: “Of course, they [the banks] do not really pay out loans

from the money they receive as deposits. If they did this, no additional

money would be created. What they do when they make loans is to accept

promissory notes in exchange for credits to the borrowers' transaction

accounts...Reserves are unchanged by the loan transactions. But the

deposit credits constitute new additions to the total deposits of the banking

system” (Modern Money Mechanics, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 1961)

454 To quote Modern Money Mechanics: “The total amount of expansion that

can take place...Carried through to theoretical limits, the initial $10,000 of

reserves distributed within the banking system gives rise to an expansion of

$90,000 in bank credit (loans and investments) and supports a total of

$100,000 in new deposits under a 10 percent reserve requirement.”

(Modern Money Mechanics, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 1961)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

153

(d) Income differences across society also have both a psychological

and structural causality. Psychologically, they are driven, in part, by

the basic profit and cost preservation incentive necessary to remain

competitive and functional in the market. In many ways this incentive

could be considered cognitively structural, as there is a behavioral

threshold that all players in the market economy must adhere when it

comes to survival. In turn, this interest of self-preservation though

cost-efficiency and maximizing profits, while basic to the capitalist

game at its core, shows a clear tendency to extend as an overall

survival philosophy or human value system in general.

In other words, social values become altered by this economic

need for constant self-preservation and very often it manifests itself

into behavior which, in abstraction, might be condemned as

“excessive”, “selfish” or “greedy” - when, in fact, such deemed

characteristics are mere extensions or matters of degree with respect

to this basic conditioning to “stay ahead”.

Therefore, the overall trend of increasing income inequality in

general should not be a surprise.

455

While the United States, with its

deeply competitive nature, is a highlight of extreme class inequality

today,

456

the trend is still very much a global phenomenon.

457

While

the debate about historical trends vs. current trends can be made

regarding why this period of time, the early 21

st

century, is showing

such extensive increases in the wealth gap – we might conclude that

certain structural factors have made their way into the system and

these factors are assisting the disparity. We may also conclude that

these mechanisms are not anomalies of the system - but rather

represent a natural evolution of capitalism through time.

For example, the vast income now coming from “capital gains”

is a case in point. While seemingly a minor nuance of general income,

some economic analysts have deemed capital gains to be the “key

ingredient of income disparity in the US”.

458

Capital gains are defined

as “[t]he amount by which an asset's selling price exceeds its initial

purchase price. A realized capital gain is an investment that has been

sold at a profit.”

459

Its most common context is with respect to the

455 Reference: U.S. Income Inequality: It's Worse Today Than It Was in 1774,

TheAtlantic.com, 2012

(http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/09/us-income-

inequality-its-worse-today-than-it-was-in-1774/262537/)

456 Reference: The Unequal State of America: a Reuters series, Reuters.com,

2012 (http://www.reuters.com/subjects/income-inequality/washington)

457 Reference: Income Inequality Around the World Is a Failure of Capitalism,

TheAtlantic.com, 2011

(http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/05/income-inequality-

around-the-world-is-a-failure-of-capitalism/238837/)

458 Reference: The Top 0.1% Of The Nation Earn Half Of All Capital Gains,

Forbes.com, 2011

(http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertlenzner/2011/11/20/the-top-0-1-of-

the-nation-earn-half-of-all-capital-gains/)

459 Source: Investorwords.com

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

154

selling of stocks, bonds, derivatives, futures and other abstract

“trading” vehicles.

It has been found that in the United States alone, the top 0.1

percent of the population earns about half of all capital gains,

460

and

such gains account for about 60 percent of the income of the top 400

richest citizens.

461

The class mechanism of capital gains is interesting

because it is a privileged form of income. While the stock market

might be used for conservative mutual fund and retirement investment

by the general public, it is really an upper class person's game when it

comes to substantial returns due to the high level of capital initially

needed to facilitate such high value returns. Like the elitism of high

level interest income, capital gains are a class securing mechanism

fueled by preexisting substantial wealth.

Then we have the differences in income with respect to one's

position in the corporate hierarchy. In a study performed by the

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, it was found that Canada's top

CEOs make an average worker's yearly salary in 3 hours.

462

In the

United States, according to research by the Economic Policy Institute

“the average annual earnings of the top 1 percent of wage earners

grew 156 percent from 1979 to 2007; for the top 0.1 percent they

grew 362 percent. In contrast, earners in the 90th to 95th percentiles

had wage growth of 34 percent, less than a tenth as much as those in

the top 0.1 percent tier. Workers in the bottom 90 percent had the

weakest wage growth, at 17 percent from 1979 to 2007.”

463

They continue: “The large increase in wage inequality is one of

the main drivers of the large upward distribution of household income

to the top 1 percent, the others being the rising inequality of capital

income and the growing share of income going to capital rather than

wages and compensation. The result of these three trends was a more

than doubling of the share of total income in the United States

received by the top 1 percent between 1979 and 2007 and a large

increase in the income gap between those at the top and the vast

majority. In 2007, average annual incomes of the top 1 percent of

households were 42 times greater than incomes of the bottom 90

(http://www.investorwords.com/706/capital_gain.html)

460 Reference: Capital gains tax rates benefiting wealthy feed growing gap

between rich and poor, WashingtonPost.com, 2011

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/capital-gains-tax-

rates-benefiting-wealthy-are-protected-by-both-

parties/2011/09/06/gIQAdJmSLK_story.html)

461 Reference: Questioning the Dogma of Tax Rates, NYTimes.com, 2011

(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/business/questioning-the-dogma-of-

lower-taxes-on-capital-gains.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

462 Reference: Top Canadian CEOs make average worker’s salary in three

hours of first working day of year, FinancialPost.com, 2012

(http://business.financialpost.com/2012/01/03/top-canadian-ceos-make-

average-workers-salary-in-three-hours/)

463 Reference: CEO pay and the top 1%, Epi.org, 2012

(http://www.epi.org/publication/ib331-ceo-pay-top-1-percent/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

155

percent (up from 14 times greater in 1979), and incomes of the top

0.1 percent were 220 times greater (up from 47 times greater in

1979).”

464

Similar patterns can be found in other industrialized nations. In

fact, in 2013 even China has been discussing their growing income gap

problem with proposals to ease the disparity.

465

The Organization for

Economic Co-operation and Development in a 2011 report found that

countries with historically low levels of income inequality have

experienced significant increases over the past decade.

466

467

Causality in the form of clearly defined structural mechanisms

are more difficult to pin down with respect to this general trend of

employment related income imbalance. The combination of the

psychological incentive of self-preservation and self-maximization

inherent to the value system of capitalism, coupled with the ever-

changing legal, tax and financial policy related variables in play, along

with the basic strategic edge maintained by the upper classes due to

their existing wealth security, creates a complex, synergistic

mechanism of class preservation and external oppression.

A subtle yet revealing statistical point to also note is how

during recent recessions in the United States, the wealth gap has

actually widened.

468

It is axiomatic to conclude that if the system of

economy was without structural interference in favor of the wealthy, a

national recession on the scale of the what occurred from 2007 onward

should have affected most everyone negatively, regardless of social

class. Yet, it was reported in 2010 that “the wealthiest 5 percent of

Americans, who earn more than $180,000, added slightly to their

annual incomes last year...Families at the $50,000 median level

464 Ibid.

465 Reference: China Issues Proposal to Narrow Income Gap, NYTimes.com,

2013 (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/world/asia/china-issues-plan-

to-narrow-income-gap.html)

466 Reference: Society at a Glance 2011 - OECD Social Indicators, Oecd.org,

2011

(http://www.oecd.org/social/socialpoliciesanddata/societyataglance2011-

oecdsocialindicators.htm)

467 Reference: 10 Countries With The Worst Income Inequality: OECD,

HuffingtonPost.com, 2011 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/23/10-

countries-with-worst-income-

inequality_n_865869.html#s278244&title=1_Chile)

468 U.S. Census data revealed:”The top-earning 20 percent of Americans –

those making more than $100,000 each year – received 49.4 percent of all

income generated in the U.S., compared with the 3.4 percent made by the

bottom 20 percent of earners, those who fell below the poverty line,

according to the new figures. That ratio of 14.5-to-1 was an increase from

13.6 in 2008 and nearly double a low of 7.69 in 1968. At the top, the

wealthiest 5 percent of Americans, who earn more than $180,000, added

slightly to their annual incomes last year, the data show. Families at the

$50,000 median level slipped lower.” Source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/28/income-gap-widens-census-

_n_741386.html

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

156

slipped lower.”

469

As a final point on the issue of income inequality, it is

important to note how national economic growth often relates to those

of the upper class itself, reducing the general economic relevance of

the lower classes. The term “plutonomy” is appropriate in this case. A

“plutonomy” is defined as “Economic growth that is powered and

consumed by the wealthiest upper class of society. Plutonomy refers to

a society where the majority of the wealth is controlled by an ever-

shrinking minority; as such, the economic growth of that society

becomes dependent on the fortunes of that same wealthy minority.”

470

Perhaps the best way to describe the nature of plutonomy and

its relevance to the modern day, is to consider the words of those who

embrace it. In 2005, Citigroup, a powerful global banking institution,

produced a series of internal memos on the subject and it was quite

candid in its analysis and conclusions.

They stated: ”The world is dividing into two blocs - the

Plutonomy and the rest. The U.S., UK, and Canada are the key

plutonomies - economies powered by the wealthy.”

471

“In a plutonomy

there is no such animal as “the U.S. consumer” or “the UK consumer”,

or indeed the “Russian consumer”. There are rich consumers, few in

number, but disproportionate in the gigantic slice of income and

consumption they take. There are the rest, the “non-rich”, the

multitudinous many, but only accounting for surprisingly small bites of

the national pie.”

472

“We should worry less about what the average

consumer - say the 50th percentile - is going to do, when that

consumer is (we think) less relevant to the aggregate data than how

the wealthy feel and what they are doing. This is simply a case of

mathematics, not morality.”

473

With 20% of the American population controlling 85% of the

country's wealth,

474

it is clear that those utilizing that 85% are more

important to the GDP or growth of the economy. What this means is

that the financial system has little incentive to care about the actions

or financial wellbeing of most of the public.

It continues: “the heart of our plutonomy thesis [is] that the

rich are the dominant source of income, wealth and demand in

plutonomy countries such as the UK, US, Canada and Australia...

Secondly, we believe that the rich are going to keep getting richer in

469 Reference: Income Gap Widens: Census Finds Record Gap Between Rich

And Poor (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/28/income-gap-

widens-census-_n_741386.html)

470 Source: Investopedia.com

(http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/plutonomy.asp#axzz2K4wDOCp1)

471 Source: Plutonomy: Buying Luxury, Explaining Global Imbalance, Citigroup

Internal Memo, October 16

th

2005, p.1

472 Ibid, p.2

473 Source: The Plutonomy Symposium — Rising Tides Lifting Yachts, Citigroup

Internal Memo, September 29, 2006, p.11

474 Reference: Wealth, Income, and Power, UCSC.edu, 2013

(http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

157

coming years, as capitalists (the rich) get an even bigger share of GDP

as a result, principally, of globalization. We expect the global pool of

labor in developing economies to keep wage inflation in check, and

profit margins rising – good for the wealth of capitalists, relatively bad

for developed market unskilled/outsource-able labor. This bodes well

for companies selling to or servicing the rich.”

475

With respect to the relevance of the rest of the population, the

memo states: “We see the biggest threat to plutonomy as coming

from a rise in political demands to reduce income inequality, spread

the wealth more evenly, and challenge forces such as globalization

which have benefited profit and wealth growth.”

476

“Our conclusion?

The three levers governments and societies could pull on to end

plutonomy are benign. Property rights are generally still intact,

taxation policies neutral to favorable, and globalization is keeping the

supply of labor in surplus, acting as a brake on wage inflation.”

477

478

While plutonomy itself might not exactly be a source of class

conflict it is certainly a result. Chrystia Freeland, author of Plutocrats:

The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else

makes a point about the nature of this framed psychology inherent to

those of the opulent minority:

“You don't do this in a kind of chortling, smoking your cigar,

conspiratorial thinking way. You do it by persuading yourself that what

is in your own personal self-interest is in the interests of everybody

else. So you persuade yourself that, actually, government services,

things like spending on education, which is what created that social

mobility in the first place, need to be cut so that the deficit will shrink,

so that your tax bill doesn't go up. And what I really worry about is,

there is so much money and so much power at the very top, and the

gap between those people at the very top and everybody else is so

great, that we are going to see social mobility choked off and society

transformed.”

479

In Conclusion

A great deal more could be said with respect to the multi-level battling

occurring on the planet Earth, mostly centric to financial and market

power and its institutional preservation. From physical violence to

475 Source: Revisiting Plutonomy: The Rich Getting Richer, Citigroup Internal

Memo, March 5th, 2006, p.11

476 Source: The Plutonomy Symposium - Rising Tides Lifting Yachts, Citigroup

Internal Memo, September 29, 2006, p.11

477 Source: Plutonomy: Buying Luxury, Explaining Global Imbalance, Citigroup

Internal Memo, October 16

th

2005, p.24

478 For a more detailed analysis of these documents by Citigroup, see:

http://www.insideriowa.com/en/opinion/index.cfm?action=display&newsID=

17761

479 Source: National Public Radio (October 15, 2012) "A Startling Gap Between

Us And Them In 'Plutocrats'"

(http://www.npr.org/2012/10/15/162799512/a-startling-gap-between-us-

and-them-in-plutocrats)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

158

subtle legal manipulation, the theme is consistent and dominant. It

could even be argued that progress itself has war waged against it

since established corporate institutions who maintain powerful market

share in a given industry, will often work to ruthlessly shut down

anything that can compete with them, even if the product is

progressively better or more sustainable in utility.

480

Change and

progress itself, in real terms, are not readily welcomed in the capitalist

system as it often disturbs the success of established institutions. The

incredibly slow rate of application of new, sustainability improving

technological methods is a case in point.

481

In fact, on the corporate level, there is not only a perpetual war

to reduce such competition but there is also the ongoing exploitation

of the public in general. Adam Smith actually made this point in his

The Wealth of Nations, stating: “The interest of the dealers, however,

in any particular branch of trade or manufactures, is always in some

respects different from, and even opposite to, that of the public...To

narrow the competition is always the interest of dealers...But to

narrow the competition...can serve only to enable the dealers, by

raising their profits above what they naturally would be, to levy, for

their own benefit, an absurd tax upon the rest of their fellow-

citizens.”

482

On the national level, “peace” today seems to be merely a pause

between conflicts on the stage of global civilization. There is a war

going on somewhere virtually all the time and when there isn't, the

major powers are busy building more advanced weapons and/or selling

off the old ones to other countries who are posturing in the same way,

all under the name of not only protection but in the name of “good

business” as well.

483

Even nations themselves have taken on a form of

class hierarchy with dominant 1

st

world nations subjugating poor 3rd

world nations. Common gradient terms such as superpowers, powers,

sub-powers and vassal states can be found in historical literature with

respect to the national class hierarchy and the structural mechanisms

which keep this gradient in form are not very different in intent than

what keeps the social classes in order.

For example, while the debt and interest systems, as described,

do very well to keep downward pressure on the lower classes,

480 A well established example of inhibited progress for the maintaining of

existing profit establishments was the successful effort made by the oil

industry and, by extension, the U.S. government to slow progress toward

fully electric vehicles in the 1990s. (Suggested viewing: “Who Killed the

Electric Car?”: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489037/synopsis)

481 Reference: Oil Giants Loath to Follow Obama’s Green Lead

(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/business/energy-

environment/08greenoil.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

482 Source: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,

Adam Smith, Modern Library Reprint, 1937, New York, p.250

483 Reference: The U.S.: Arms Merchant to the Developing World, Time.com

2012 (http://nation.time.com/2012/08/28/theres-no-business-like-the-

arms-business-2/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

159

structurally limiting prosperity and social mobility, the same effect

occurs to repress a nation via the World Bank and International

Monetary Fund.

484

Even John Adams, the second president of the

United States pointed this out with his statement: “There are two ways

to conquer and enslave a country. One is by the sword. The other is by

debt.”485

On the broadest scale, the real war being waged is on problem

resolution and human harmony. The real war is on a balance of power

and social justice. The real war, in effect, is on the institution of

economic equality.

486 487

In the words of former Supreme Court

justice, Louis D. Brandeis: "We can have democracy in this country, or

we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we

can't have both."

488

All across the world today people talk about the need for

equality. Most literate people in the world have no respect for gender

or racial bias. The idea of being sexist or racist has become a deeply

abhorred view, even though it was not that long ago in the Western

world such cultural views were considered “normal”. There appears to

be a course of evolution that wishes to equalize society that is, by

definition, what the underlying gesture of “democracy” is supposed to

denote.

Yet, in the midst of all this, the most oppressive form of

segregated human suffering continues largely unnoticed in its true

context. Today, it is not race, gender or creed that keeps one most

oppressed – it is the institution of class. It is now an issue of “rich” and

“poor” and, like racism, these ideological and ultimately structural

forms of oppression discriminate and divide the human species in

deeply powerful and destructive ways.

In the broad view, this multidimensional warfare - truly a world

at war with itself – is wholly unsustainable. It is becoming more

obvious, given the accelerating social problems at hand, that the ethos

of all-out competition and narrow self-preservation at the expense of

others - whether on the personal, corporate, class, ideological or

national level - will not be the source of any resolution or long-term

human prosperity. It is going to take a new type of thinking to

overcome these sociological trends and at the heart of such dramatic

cultural change rests the change of the socioeconomic premise itself.

484 Reference: Structural Adjustment - a Major Cause of Poverty,

GlobalIssues.org, 2013 (http://www.globalissues.org/article/3/structural-

adjustment-a-major-cause-of-poverty)

485 Source: Heritage.com (http://www.john-adams-heritage.com/quotes/)

486 Reference: 'Extreme' Poverty in US Has More Than Doubled, Study Says,

MoneyNews.com, 2012 (http://www.moneynews.com/Economy/Extreme-

Poverty-US/2012/03/06/id/431627)

487 Reference: Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%, VanityFair.com, 2011

(http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/05/top-one-percent-

201105)

488 Source: Quoted by Raymond Lonergan in Mr. Justice Brandeis, Great

American, 1941, p.42

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

160

PART III: A NEW TRAIN OF THOUGHT

-INTRODUCTION TO SUSTAINABLE THOUGHT-

Action is the product of the qualities inherent in Nature.

It is only the ignorant man who, misled by personal egotism, says:

'I am the doer.'

489

-The Bhagavad Gita

Socioeconomic Spectrum

As alluded to in prior essays, sustainable practices can only come

about by a value re-orientation towards sustainable thought. While the

notion of sustainability is often reduced to an ecological context, the

real issue under the surface is cultural. This hence becomes a process

of education. It is the perspective of The Zeitgeist Movement that the

economic system utilized in a society is the greatest influence on the

values and beliefs of its people. For instance, deeply rooted in even

the seemingly separate politico-religious doctrines of our time, resides

an undercurrent of values set forth by economic assumptions.

490

The term “socioeconomic”, which is the social science that

links the effects of economic activity to other social processes,

491

could

have its meaning more specifically extended to also include religious

views, political biases, military initiatives, tribal loyalties, cultural

customs, legal statutes and other common societal phenomena. It

appears that the very fabric of our lives and hence our value system is

born, most dominantly, from the cultural perception of our survival,

social relationships and ideas of personal/social success.

Moreover, it is critical to restate that political systems, which

most in the world still seem to award priority of importance when it

comes to the state of affairs in society, are, at best, secondary in

relevance (if not, in fact, entirely obsolete) when the true ramifications

of the economic structure are factored in. In fact, as will be argued in

future essays, “political” governance as we know it is really nothing

more than an outgrowth of economic inefficiency. Very few would care

much about “who was in power” or other such traditional notions if

they clearly understood the process of economic unfolding and were

able to contribute and gain without conflict. Therefore, there is no

greater issue of importance than the system of economic unfolding

when it comes to the conduct and stability of human beings on both

489 Source: The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 27, Translation: Shri Purohit

Swami

490 An example would be this Old Testament scripture which seems to imply

that the “poor” will always exist no matter what society does: “There will

always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be

openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your

land.” -Deuteronomy 15:11

491 “Socioeconomic” is defined as: “of, relating to, or involving a combination

of social and economic factors” (Source: http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/socioeconomic)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

161

the personal and social level.

Ephemeralization

Generally speaking, an economic system exists to meet the “needs

and wants”

492

of the population. The degree by which it is able to do

so depends on the state of usable resources and the technical strategy

utilized to harness those resources for a given purpose. In this

context, notable engineer and thinker R. Buckminster Fuller argued

that true economic “wealth” is not money or even the material

outcome of a given production.

493

Rather, true wealth is the level of

energy/production efficiency enabled, coupled with knowledge

development that furthers the intelligent management of the Earth's

resources. In this view, he defined and expressed a trend termed

“ephemeralization”

494

which tracks humanity’s technical ability to

increasingly do “more with less”.

Historically speaking, ephemeralization is, in gesture, a

contradiction of the still deeply held “Malthusian”

495

consideration

which, in part, claims that humanity is forever out of balance with

nature and there will always be a section of the population that must

suffer, as the available resources simply do not add up to meet

492 Consumption patterns in modern society have shown an increasingly

arbitrary nature with respect to human “wants”, such as the powerful shift

in values that occurred in the early 20

th

century with the application of

modern Western advertising. Human “needs”, however, are basic

necessities, largely shared by all humans, which maintain physical and

psychological health. While many still argue subjective interpretations of

such terms, “needs” are essentially static and “wants” are essentially

variable. Generally speaking, “wants” are a consequence of one's value

system and are culturally derived. Therefore, “needs” are hence of greater

priority in meeting than “wants”.

493 Fuller States: “Wealth...is inherently regenerative. Experimentally

demonstrated wealth is: energy compounded with intellect's knowhow.”

From Utopia or Oblivion, R. Buckminster Fuller, Bantam Press, NY, 1969,

p.288

494 Ephemeralization, a term coined by R. Buckminster Fuller, is the ability of

technological advancement to do "more and more with less and less..." over

time. This trend can be noticed in many areas of industrial development,

from computer processing (Moore's law) to the rapid acceleration of human

knowledge (information technology). A common example would be the

computation power and size relationships of computers over time. The

ENIAC computer of the 1940s covered 1800 square feet of floor space,

weighed 30 tons, consumed 160 kilowatts of electrical power and cost about

$6 Million in modern value. Today, an inexpensive, pocket size cell phone

computes substantially faster than ENIAC. Hence - less material and yet

more power. [http://inventors.about.com/od/estartinventions/a/Eniac.htm]

495 Malthusianism is a perspective linked to economist and cleric Thomas R.

Malthus that, in short, has to do with the need to control/limit population

growth due to an empirical assumption of relative resource scarcity. Ideas

such as "not helping the poor" as "it only gives false hope" and the like are

common to this view. [Suggested Reading: An Essay on the Principle of

Population, Thomas Malthus, 1798]

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

162

everyone's needs.

As noted in prior essays, this worldview is ever apparent in the

economic system we still embrace today globally, forging deep

structural biases

496

that have inevitably favored one “class” of people

over another in survival advantage. In other words, a “war game” has

culminated, built out of the assumption of universal, perpetually

reinforced scarcity, which moves forward today on its own momentum,

largely absent of its original causal reasoning.

The vast majority of what we define as “corruption” today,

more often than not, finds its psychological root in this competitive

awareness both on the personal level, the corporate (business) level &

on the level of government in the form of war, tyranny and self-

preserving collusion. In fact, it can be well argued that the very notion

of “ethical” in a world decidedly working to gain at the expense of

others becomes a highly relative and almost arbitrary distinction.

Yet, this trend of ephemeralization, having increased rapidly

from the 20

th

century's almost sudden industrial/scientific

advancements, deeply challenges this protectionist, elitist, scarcity-

driven worldview, suggesting new, paradigm-shifting possibilities for

human organization.

These possibilities, in part, statistically reveal that we are now

able to take care of the entire world's population at a standard of living

unknown to the vast majority of humanity today.

497

However, in order

for this new reality of efficiency to be harnessed, the archaic barriers

ingrained in our everyday way of life, specifically our perception of

economics, need to be reevaluated and likely overcome entirely.

As noted in prior essays, the term “utopia” commonly arises as

a pejorative term amongst those who tend to dismiss large scale social

improvement due to either a cynicism of so-called “human nature” or

an outright disbelief in humanity's technical capacity to now adjust

greatly with new technical means.

For example, an objection common to the current culture,

specifically the “wealthy” First World nations, rests in the value of what

could be termed the “violence of mass acquisition”. At its root, this

view takes the Malthusian concept of need-oriented resource

496 See prior essay: Structural Classism, The State and War

497 While this reality will be discussed in the following essay “Post-Scarcity

Trends, Capacity and Efficiency”, highlighting the accelerating efficiency of

transportation, energy, industrial design, food cultivation technology and

the like, the following conclusion by R. Buckminster Fuller in 1969 is worth

stating for historical reference: “[Man] developed such intense

mechanization in World War I that the percentage of total world population

that were industrial “haves” rose by 1919 to the figure of 6%. That was a

very abrupt change in history...By the time of World War II 20% of all

humanity had become industrial “haves”...At the present moment the

proportion of “haves” is at 40% of humanity...if we up the performances...of

resources from the present level to a highly feasible overall efficiency of

12% [more]...[all humanity can be provided for]”. From Utopia or Oblivion,

R. Buckminster Fuller, Bantam Press, NY, 1969, pp.153-155

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

163

insufficiency and transposes it to assume a pressure of acquisitive

irrationality.

In other words, it assumes human beings empirically have

infinite material “wants” and even if, say, every human being could

exist with what the West today would deem an upper class lifestyle,

with no one falling short, an element of our psychology would never be

satisfied in the material sense and the interest in “more and more”

material gain would thus always create a destabilizing imbalance in

society. Therefore, the existence of “haves” and “have-nots” is

perceived to be a consequence of our inherent, status-driven

psychology and greed, not availability of resources and means.

To the extent that this is actually true is dubious at best given

the extreme cultural condition we find ourselves in today, compared

with the historical fact that outside of Western (aka Capitalistic)

influence, the concept of “vain material success” is far from universal

for the human being.

498

In truth, the relationship of “success” and

“property” has been culturally manufactured based upon system

necessity and is now a staple value of our consumer-based society.

499

In a world now driven by “economic growth” to keep

employment at a reasonable level; in a world which overtly praises

those with great financial wealth as a measure of success; in a world

that actually rewards behaviors of human indifference and ruthless

competition for market share (rather than honest social contribution

for overall human betterment); it is no mystery as to why the idea of a

single human owning, say, a 400 room mansion on 500,000 acres of

private land with 50 cars and five planes parked in the front yard has

become part of an ideal, coveted vision of personal (and social)

success.

Yet, from the perspective of true human sustainability, this

view is pure violence and exists in nearly the same category of one

who hoards food and resources he or she doesn't need and refuses to

allow others access for the sake of abstract principle.

500

If we imagine

498 Given that the “infinite want” assumption of human craving is still a core

component of the monetary-market based economic view of scarcity and

resource inequity, it is interesting how the very basis of its assumption

implies an empirical irrationality of human behavior. It would have to be

irrational given the basic knowledge of humanity dependence on the Earth's

finite resources. Contradiction of this assumption is replete in human

history, specifically with cultures that developed in less industrialized

societies, in more direct association with the land, outside of the influence of

our now common consumer culture. Early Native American cultures, for

example, held the value of balance as a virtue rather than acquisition.

Suggested Reading: The High Price of Materialism, Tim Kasser, A Bradford

Book, 2003

499 Reference: Propaganda, Edward Bernays, Ig Publishing, 1928

500 The socially destabilizing ramifications of a society with great wealth

imbalance were best recently exemplified by the rise of what was globally

recognized as the “Occupy Wall Street” protests. (http://occupywallst.org/)

Wealth imbalance has become recognized increasingly as less of an issue of

subjective “moral fairness” but rather an issue of dire public health and

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

164

a small island of ten people were two people decide to extract and

hoard 1,000% more than they need to be healthy, leaving eight

people to live in abject poverty and/or dying - would you find this

arrangement an act of “personal freedom” by those two - or an act of

social violence against the eight?

This is brought up here to dismiss the “utopian abundance

fallacy” reaction common to many regarding, in part, the implications

of ephemeralization. Just as we as a global society are realizing the

inherent physical limitations of our industrial behaviors, slowly

adjusting away from ecologically destabilizing consequences, the

understanding that an “infinite wants”-based value orientation is

equally as detrimental to social balance is critical to realize.

System Limitation

When it comes to cultural philosophies, the human population must

gain, in part, a clear understanding of its limitations and derive its

expectations and values from this physical reality. The limitations

imposed by our environment exist irrespective of human values,

interests, wants or even needs in abstraction. If we were to remove

humanity from planet Earth and observe the Earth's natural ecological

operations with the causal, scientific understandings we have today,

we would witness a synergistic/symbiotic system governed by the

universal dynamics of nature.

Hence, no matter what we think about ourselves, our

intentions or our “freedoms”,

501

once we are placed into this system of

physical law we are bound to it regardless of our beliefs or the cultural

norms we have taken for granted, or which have been imposed as

"inevitable" or "immutable" by our various cultures. If we choose to

learn and align with the logic inherent, we find sustainability and hence

stability. If we choose to ignore or fight these pre-existing rules, we

will inevitably decrease stability and problems will arise, as is the near-

constant state of affairs today in the early 21

st

century.

This awareness of natural limitations, as we have come to

understand them today via the scientific method, expresses perhaps

the most profound shift in human “loyalties” in history. In short, we

now understand that we either align with the natural world, or we

suffer. Sadly, this firm referential association still stands at odds with

social stability.

501 The word “freedoms” is in parenthesis due to the prolific cultural use.

Patriotic slogans about “freedom” and “liberty”, born out of, in part, the

historical problem of tyranny and government abuse, exist today often

creating an almost neurotic and misleading view of human behavior. In

reality, there is no such thing as universal freedom in the world as rigid

physical laws bind us. The cultural notion of “freedom”, as most propagated

by the Capitalist ideology, can be argued as intrinsically dangerous to

species sustainability in many ways - specifically with respect to its absolute

ignoring of larger order synergistic system factors, assuming the fallacy that

a detached, self-interest based pursuit secures social and ecological

balance.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

165

many common philosophies today, such as established religious and

political perspectives. Remarkably also, it is a common rejoinder to

label this very firmly based realization as "totalitarian" or "black-and-

white", a seemingly rigid and arbitrary imposition upon human life,

rather than simply the undeniable, scientifically demonstrable state of

affairs.

Intriguingly, the nearly paradoxical punch line of the whole

consideration of natural law is that within this rational “box” of system

limitation we define as the “governing laws of nature” our range of

possibility within these boundaries via the scientific method also

reveals an ever-increasing technical efficiency and incredible potential

to create an abundance to meet human needs, globally.

Furthermore, since humanity is the only species on Earth with

the mental capacity to alter/affect its ecosystem in truly profound

ways, this necessity for alignment becomes critical for species

sustainability, public health and true problem solving advancement.

Nothing could be more dangerous than a world culture that, given the

exponential increase in our capacity to affect ecological and social

balance with technology, misunderstands its power and effects. In

many ways, humanity is faced with an educational race against time

with respect to its current immaturity in handling the incredible,

newfound powers it has realized via science and technology.

502

As an aside, it is important to remember that when it comes to

the history of economic thought itself, the frame of reference has had

more to do with assumptions of human behavior than intelligent

resource management and general physical science/natural law

understandings.

503

While our most innate behavioral reflexes and

genetic propensities are certainly relevant to the consequences of a

socioeconomic system and are very much a part of the equation,

assumptions of human behavior cannot rationally be held as a

structural starting point of an economic system. Humans are a

consequence of the same ecological system conditions and not the

other way around.

So, in conclusion to this introduction, if the purpose of a social

system is to create an ever increasing standard of living, while also

maintaining environmental and social balance to assure we do not

reduce this quality in the future due to possible resulting consequences

of irresponsible choices - such as resource depletion, pollution,

disease, negative stress, “wealth” imbalance and other issues – it then

becomes critical to base our methodology on the most relevant set of

technical parameters we can, oriented around the current state of

scientific awareness on both an ecological and human level

502 Later in his life, astronomer Carl Sagan made a video commentary which

can be found in later releases of his PBS series "Cosmos", stating

(paraphrased here):"It is almost as though there is a God and he has given

humanity the choice to use the power of science to improve life… or destroy

it. It is up to us."

503 See prior essay History of Economy.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

166

-POST SCARCITY TRENDS, CAPACITY AND EFFICIENCY-

The world’s present industrial civilization is handicapped by the coexistence of

two universal, overlapping, and incompatible intellectual systems: the

accumulated knowledge of the last four centuries of the properties and

interrelationships of matter and energy; and the associated monetary culture

which has evolved from folkways of prehistoric origin.

504

-M. King Hubbert

Evaluating Design

Examining the surface of Earth today, a network layer of communities,

industrial centers, transport routes, recreational areas, agricultural

systems and the like dominate much of the landscape. Whether

intended as a total system construct or not, this result, at any given

point in time, constitutes the appearance of a topographical design.

Yet, on the other hand, given that this resulting “design” today

is, actually, a consequential amalgamation of mostly business

dynamics - moving money around for personal or group self-interest,

based around decision-making mechanisms such as profit, cost-

efficiency and the prevailing logic surrounding property relationships –

it could also be argued that what has manifest is actually not a

“design” at all. Rather, it is rooted in a mechanism that has created

the appearance of design ex post facto

505

since the structural outcome

recognized was not fully anticipated as a whole prior to its

construction.

In other words, the technical order we see in the world today

is mostly the result of financial processes that have little to no

perception of larger scale structural outcomes. It is more of a proxy

system

506

and while there are some relative exceptions, such as the

placement of highways, pipelines and the like by funded city planners

who simply must take a broad physical view to be functional, even

those circumstances are often working around pre-existing property

claims and other forms of interference which tend to reduce design

efficiency on the whole.

This is an interesting observation, as once it is recognized that

our society operates without a large scale preconception of its own

physical design, one might begin to realize the enormous level of

unnecessary waste and technical inefficiency inherent to such a short-

504 Source: Two Intellectual Systems: Matter-energy and the Monetary

Culture, M. King Hubbert, 1981

505 “Ex Post Facto” is a Latin term that means “done, made, or formulated

after the fact”.

506 “Proxy”, defined as “the agency, function, or office of a deputy who acts as

a substitute for another” (http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/proxy), is used in this context to describe the

market economy as a system that serves to assist industrial and, in many

ways, societal operations indirectly. In other words, the system of trade,

profit, competition and all other such monetary-market attributes are

merely mechanisms that orient behavior in a certain, arguably short-sighted

way, absent any kind of larger system perspective.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

167

sighted process.

To consider this more so, two points are worth considering:

a) Existing yet Unapplied Solutions

b) Broad Conception vs. Spontaneous Conception

a) Existing yet Unapplied Solutions:

This first point concerns the tendency of many new innovations for

problem resolution to go unapplied within the current economic

tradition.

507

If further life improving methods or technologies have not

found their way into a system within a respectable amount of time (or

at all) after general validation, we can rightly assume there are

inefficiencies, if not deficiencies, with the very process of economic

incorporation and development.

In other words, this delay between proven solutions, and their

application in the real world, gauges the ability of the socioeconomic

system to adapt properly to improved methods and applications. If, for

some reason, the social order in question is not able to incorporate

such new means to further ecological balance, improve public health,

solve problems and increase prosperity, then there is likely a structural

problem inherent.

508

b) Broad Conception vs. Spontaneous Conception:

Secondly, from a strictly formulaic viewpoint, direct, total system

considerations will always be more efficient and effective than

“spontaneous” generation by processes blind to the final outcome or

507 A classic example is the electric car that has been around since the 19

th

century, showing large-scale efficacy in the 21st century via technological

improvements. However, the global shift from the polluting gas engine to

the clean electric engine has clearly been stifled by established, profit

preserving industries related to the automobile manufacturers and energy

providers. It is also worth noting that the very foundation of market

efficiency is the mechanism of profit. With this “proxy” mechanism, actions

are only taken if they are “profitable”. In real life, we can see a vast array of

needed actions to assist social and environmental integrity that have no

relevance to the pursuit of profit. In other words, if money cannot be made

on a given act, that act isn't deemed of value in the view of the proxy.

508 A classic, large-scale example is the existence of poverty. In order to justify

poverty, physically, there must be a clear deficiency in the natural world's

capacity to meet the needs of those who have resulted to exist in poverty. If

it is found that there is a capacity to eliminate poverty as we know it, hence

meaning enough food, shelter, water and other resources and services that

can, indeed, be made available without removing those basic, life

supporting means from others, then the justification of poverty must find

another source. In the current system, this justification is essentially

theoretical and determined only by the mechanism of the market itself,

implying that if a person is incapable of competing sufficiently to obtain his

or her own viable standard of living, then they are hence not deserving of

that standard of living. Therefore, the reason poverty exists, as per this

example, is the result of the market system and its structure, not real life,

physical realities.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

168

purpose.

509

In other words, as gestured before, a basic good, such as a

car, has a design that is conceived of in advance, before physical

production. Once this design is decided upon, it is then followed by

applying real life materials and processes to create the actual physical

product. This may seem obvious to most as a logical process but the

relevance of such preconception is often lost when it comes to larger

order contexts.

We have to wonder what the outcome would be if we applied

the pseudo-democratic market process of bidding, buying and selling

for short-term profit, if even possible on such a scale, to the creation

of high integrity goods systems, such as an airplane, computer, car,

home or the like. While today the resources, labor and sub-component

systems of these items are certainly in play in the open market, the

design itself is not.

The design is relegated, necessarily, to the discipline of science

overall. It could be said that a line is intuitively drawn in this way

between what is susceptible to monetary opinion and what is tangibly

needed to keep some basic level of technical, system integrity. (Please

note that this notion of design is not to be confused with subjective

“style” interests. Design, as used here, is not an aesthetic

consideration but a technical one.)

Imagine, hypothetically, if people “bid and offered” for the

physical design construction of a house in each tiny physical detail,

ignoring scientific principles. In other words, instead of referencing the

basic laws of physics and the natural science that defines the core

structural integrity of any building, we let the market decide, with

everyone “buying” and “selling” such premises for their personal gain,

regardless of their technical understanding. Of course, such an idea is

truly absurd in such abstraction and most reading this probably can't

even imagine such an irrational interplay.

However, this is exactly what is occurring as a result of our

economic system in many other less obvious ways. For example, on

the “macroeconomic” scale, the global commercial network created by

what is termed globalization

510

- with its basis in cost efficiency which,

among other things, utilizes cheaper labor in often distant regions,

511

while wasting large amounts of energy sending resources all over the

509 The main exception to this would be a situation where the assumed system

design is simply not understood properly at that time. In other words, if the

goal or function of a given system is not fully realized, then naturally that

system can only be designed to that level of understanding.

510 Globalization is defined as: “the development of an increasingly integrated

global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the

tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets”. (http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/globalization)

511 Reference: Globalization: Between Fairness and Exploitation

(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/land-of-wandering-

souls/globalization-between-fairness-and-exploitation/3073/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

169

world and back - reveals this loss of efficiency well.

512

From the perspective of preconceived design, given the more

logical possibility of localization of labor, production and distribution in

most all cases, globalization, in its current form, is highly inefficient

compared to other possibilities. This is not to deny that globalization

and this integration of international economies has generally been a

productive occurrence within the evolution of economics. In that

context, it has served global industrial development fairly well.

However, if we step out of the box of market logic and examine how

we could directly design a more technically efficient and localized set

of systems, within the global setting, we find that the current method

is not only inferior, it is rather offensive.

On the “microeconomic” scale, this can be exemplified with

respect to the inefficiency inherent to the quality of basic good

components, also due to the practice of cost efficiency and the

inherent interest to produce the so-called “best” at the “lowest cost”

which, quite simply, does not produce the best at all.

For example, a proposed schematic design of, say, a laptop

computer might be reasonably efficient, technically. However, if the

actual materials used to generate that final good are relatively poor in

quality, no matter how intelligent the overall, basic design, it will incur

relative weakness and will likely break down more rapidly than if the

same design was also optimized to use the most “appropriate”

materials from a technical point of view, rather than those materials

decided upon as per the proxy of “market efficiency”.

513

Another example is the market phenomenon of proprietary

technology. While we see, ostensibly, an enormous amount of variety

in the world today with respect to good production, a closer look

shows a vast and wasteful multiplicity,

514

along with problematic

512 Reference: Why globalization is energy intensive and wreaks havoc on oil

prices (http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-

Voices/2013/0228/Why-globalization-is-energy-intensive-and-wreaks-

havoc-on-oil-prices)

513 This is a rather subjective example as, ideally, a planned design should be

thorough enough to take into account the actual, physical materials and

their characteristics, decided upon down to the smallest relevant part. In

truth, this only happens to a certain degree, with many components of a

given good included as a means to keep a product “cheap” and competitive

in the open market. An example would be tires on a car. While general

specification of tire grade may be suggested, the use of “cheap” tires could

prevail due to an interest to limits costs by the consumer or even the

producer.

514 An example of multiplicity is how good production today grades quality

based on a targeted demographic. There are deliberately poor goods

continuously designed for those with limited purchasing power and there are

more optimized goods, which are longer lasting and effective, designed for

those who can afford such quality. While native to the logic of the market

system's inherent and resulting class stratification, this type of waste is

actually unneeded if society had the intention to share design ideas in

totality, seeking optimization as strategically as possible. In a NLRBE, this

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

170

structural incompatibility between producers' components of the same

good genre.

In other words, competing corporations today tend to create

custom systems (such as a computer system and its required

components) that are incompatible with the developments of other

producers in that same good genre. “Universal compatibility”,

515

or

lack thereof, is yet another example that the byproduct of this market

“proxy” game and the larger order system inefficiency and waste is

enormous. This pattern is also common to generational development

of existing commercial product systems (aka “models”), such as when

improvements are made to a given machine, unnecessarily making

obsolete older components of that machine, in the interest of assuring

further purchases from the consumer.

516

It is critical to note that there is no such thing as a single

product in the closed system of Earth with respect to planetary

resources and their use, nor are any product designs or production

methods existing in a vacuum. Each good and its process of production

is merely an extension of the whole of industry. Hence, the materials

utilized, along with designs, find their true context only with respect to

the whole of industry and resource management on all levels. This

understanding forces the constant need to view industry (and hence

economics itself) as a single system process to ensure maximum

technical efficiency.

So with this in mind, coupled again with the first point

regarding the question of why certain realities are not put into practice

even though they are clearly doable at a given point in time, this essay

will examine socially relevant technological trends and design

capacities which, if applied properly, could radically transform the

world into a “post-scarcity”, highly abundant condition that would

alleviate the vast majority of the world's problems we see as

commonplace today.

Moreover, it is a conclusion of TZM that the current model not

only disallows (or too slowly incorporates) new advents in efficiency

due to the very nature of business and its tendency to preserve

inefficiency for the sake of an establishment's profit,

517

the very

would be the case, removing the market and hence the enormous waste

produced by this kind of demographic based multiplicity.

515 See essay True Economic Factors for more on this subject.

516 Here is an example: Fury at Apple's 'rip-off' plan to make ALL iPhone

accessories obsolete by changing design of socket

(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2162867/Apple-slammed-

iPhone-5-charger-Rip-plan-make-ALL-accessories-obsolete.html)

517 A classic historical example of this propensity was what was later termed

the “War of Currents”. In short, knowing that his direct current (DC)

distribution of electricity was inferior to the emerging alternating current

(AC) system put forward by Nikola Tesla, inventor Thomas Edison engaged

in an extensive disinformation campaign to suppress AC's popularity, to

preserve his financial stake in the existing AC infrastructure. Edison even

went so far as going to the United States Congress seeking to outlaw

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

171

detached and segregated nature of market activity inherently ignores

larger order considerations to source and solve problems or accelerate

improvement.

518

Design Efficiency

If we break down the everyday complexity of our lives today,

dissecting what interplay is most critical to human survival,

sustainability and prosperity, we might find three basic things:

science, natural law & resources. 'Science' is the mechanism for

discovery and validation; 'natural law' is the pre-existing rule set which

we are continually learning about via science and necessarily adapting;

while 'resources' exist in the context of both raw Earthly materials and

the power of the human mind to comprehend. With respect to the

development of design, these three attributes are naturally

indispensable to each other.

Furthermore, the term industrial design,

519

for the purposes of

this essay, will be used to denote the process of economic oriented

industry in all its facets, from singular good creation to the total order

of the global economy in form. The history of industrial design is, in

many respects, the true history of economic development. As our

ever-emerging scientific understandings generate logical inference with

respect to how best utilize our resources and time, the global

landscape, both physical and cultural, has undergone perpetual

change.

In this context, the core interest of industrial design is

essentially efficiency and it could be argued that there are three

central efficiency contexts related: (a) labor efficiency (b) material

efficiency and (c) system efficiency.

(a) Labor efficiency has a unique history. Since the early 20th century

there has been a relatively rapid transition from the dominant use of

human and animal muscle as the source of labor power, to the use of

powered machines. This phenomenon, which is termed mechanization,

was able to elevate the workforce from much strenuous toil, to operate

in more of a position of tool utilization.

However, by the end of the 20

th

century, this pattern

continued to advance, where such machines were not only capable of

moving heavy loads and performing complex physical acts, they were

alternating current, along with publicly killing animals by AC electrocution.

518 While the existence of government has served as both a regulator of

business matters as well as an active colluder of such matters given its

existence as a business in and of itself, there have been very few global

actions that have united the industrial system. One example was the

Montreal Protocol, which, perhaps for the first time in history, united the

world in a basic interest in environmental protection (Ozone Layer

Depletion).

519 Industrial design is traditionally defined, as “is the use of both applied art

and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, functionality,

and/or usability of a product.”

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

172

also merging with computerization and degrees of artificial intelligence

(AI) and hence were able to make decisions as well. In short, the

accelerating trend today has proven that these modern machines are

now greatly surpassing, in productivity, the vast majority of the

actions historically held by human beings and there appears to be no

slowing down of this trend.

520

Overall, TZM views this trend as

suggesting a powerful means by which the human species can further

maximize its productive ability to meet the needs of all human beings,

while generating a level of human freedom never before seen, if

adapted properly.

521

(b) Material efficiency is how well we utilize the raw materials of the

Earth. Materials science

522

also has a unique history unto itself, with

each period of time discovering new patterns and possibilities.

Metallurgy, a domain of materials engineering that studies the physical

and chemical behavior of metallic elements and their mixtures,

523

was

a very important development historically, enabling a vast spectrum of

possibility through the creation of compounds and alloys. For example,

the term “Bronze Age”,

524

which was the period in Europe of around

3200-600 BC, is characterized by the common use of copper and its

alloy bronze for many purposes.

However, perhaps the most important discovery in materials

science understanding (and perhaps one of the most important

discoveries in human history) was the set of chemical elements that

comprise all matter, as we know it. Recognized by most as organized

via the “periodic table”, 118 elements have been identified as of 2013,

with about 92 known to occur naturally on Earth.

525

In short, these

520 This issue will be addressed at the end of this essay. Suggested reading:

Report Suggests Nearly Half of U.S. Jobs Are Vulnerable to Computerization

(http://www.technologyreview.com/view/519241/report-suggests-nearly-

half-of-us-jobs-are-vulnerable-to-computerization/)

521 Viewing the world with a “success” and “status” association to material

possessions, as is common today, often pollutes considerations of the

positive stress reducing, free time enabling, conflict relieving possibilities of

labor automation. Does one want to have a life of freedom from monotony,

stress and toil or does want to have vast, excess material possessions? This

question presents a value system conflict and the term “adaptation” here is

to suggest that people may be willing to reduce the complexity of industry a

bit by having less material “wants”, in favor of a more “simplified” lifestyle.

This isn't to suggest everything we have today could not be available in a

NLRBE. It is to say that a worldview which is less materialistic could prevail

to make such a transition to a kind automated economy more simple, not to

mention be more ecologically sustainable, given the inherent waste.

522 Materials science is an interdisciplinary field involving the properties of

matter and its application to various areas of science and engineering.

(http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/m/materials_science.htm)

523 Metallurgy defined:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/m/metallurgy.htm

524 Reference: Bronze Age: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Bronze+Age

525 Source: “New Element 115 Takes a Seat at the Periodic Table”, Time, 2013

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

173

chemical elements are the building blocks of everything we experience

as tangible in the world around us and each respective atom has

certain properties and hence idiosyncratic applications.

This knowledge, which is extremely new relative to the totality

of human understanding,

526

has not only allowed for a deeper

understanding of how chemistry can work to create an incredibly vast

range of materials for increasingly efficient industrial use, it has also

facilitated a powerful understanding of the very nature of matter itself

and prospects for manipulation at the atomic scale.

Nanotechnology,

527

which is very much in its infancy, appears

quite concrete in its theoretical basis of assembling and disassembling

different materials, and even systems of materials (i.e. goods

themselves), from the atomic level up and down.

528

Of course, as profound as that is, the current, relatively crude

state of nanotechnology applies mostly in the context of what are

called “smart materials”

529

or “meta-materials”.

530

As will be touched

upon later in this essay, the current state and trends of materials

science hold profound possibilities for the present and future.

(c) System efficiency is likely the most crucial and important of all

concepts for, as abstract as it may seem, everything we know of is a

system itself or an interaction of two or more systems. Perhaps the

(http://science.time.com/2013/08/28/new-element-115-takes-a-seat-at-

the-periodic-table/)

526 In 1789, Antoine Lavoisier published a list of 33 chemical elements,

grouping them into gases, metals, nonmetals, and earths. In 1870, Russian

chemistry professor Dmitri Mendeleev produced the first "periodic table"

with about twice as many, with a new element being discovered about ever

year on average thereafter.

527 Nanotechnology defined: the science of manipulating materials on an

atomic or molecular scale.

528 Reference: Michio Kaku: Can Nanotechnology Create Utopia?

(http://betanews.com/2012/11/08/star-trek-replicator-is-closer-to-reality-

than-you-think/)

529 “Smart Materials”, as a term, is rather new and ambiguous. A common

definition would be: “Materials that can significantly change their

mechanical properties (such as shape, stiffness, and viscosity), or their

thermal, optical, or electromagnetic properties, in a predictable or

controllable manner in response to their environment. Materials that

perform sensing and actuating functions, including piezoelectrics,

electrostrictors, magnetostrictors, and shape-memory alloys.” However, a

“smart” material isn't necessarily a product of nanotechnology, even though

nanotechnology can be common as a means of production.

530 “Metamaterials” are defined generally as “exotic composite materials that

display properties beyond those available in naturally occurring materials.

Instead of constructing materials at the chemical level, as is ordinarily done,

these are constructed with two or more materials at the macroscopic level.”

One of their defining characteristics is that the electromagnetic response

results from combining two or more distinct materials in a specified way

that extends the range of electromagnetic patterns because of the fact that

they are not found in nature.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

174

best way to express system efficiency is to consider any commonplace

act and think about how that act could either reduce waste or increase

productivity on any and all levels, not just within the context of the

perceived singular act itself. System perspectives are rather obscure to

most since we tend to view most functions and processes within the

bounds of their intended purpose only, in a categorical manner.

For example, when we consider a modern fitness center (aka

“gym”), with people exercising on various machines in one location,

we tend to think only of the purpose of that institution and hence how

to better facilitate the health interests of those people using those

machines, etc. We rarely think more broadly and propose: “What if all

those people pedaling and pushing and pulling had that exerted energy

run into a conversion system where the building itself could be

powered, in whole or in part, by that energy in the form of

electricity?”

531

This manner of thought stands at the heart of a systems

theory type worldview. Perhaps a useful way to think of this network

perspective is through the synergy of nature itself. In the Earth's

biosphere, minus current human interference, there is virtually no

such thing as waste. Virtually everything we find in nature is deeply

integrated and in balance due to the refining nature of evolution itself.

This is a powerful observation and the term biomimicry

532

is

worth mentioning in this context as, in many ways, our development

as a species has been to learn from the natural processes in existence

already, even though we appear to have decoupled greatly in many

ways. Hence, working to facilitate the most optimized integration we

can, ideally reusing everything on all levels, just as nature does,

should be a societal goal to ensure sustainability and efficiency.

Established and Potential Trends

There are two broad, basic trends/realities to consider in the world

today. For the purposes of this essay, we will refer to them as

“established” and “potential”. Established trends are the socioeconomic

trends in play at the time of this writing and these, in the context of

public health and ecological balance, are shown to be almost entirely

negative.

533

The potential trends, on the other hand, reveal life-

531 Actually, this idea was indeed realized but has been applied very rarely as

of now. “In the Gym: Clean Energy from Muscle Power”, Time, 2010

(http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2032281,00.html)

532 Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a

design discipline that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature’s

time-tested patterns and strategies, e.g., a solar cell inspired by a leaf.

(http://www.asknature.org/article/view/what_is_biomimicry)

533 Two broad trends worth noting would be ecological & social. Regarding the

ecological, it has been noted that most, if not all major life supporting

systems are currently in decline. Ref: Data Shows All of Earth’s Systems in Rapid

Decline (http://www.ipsnews.net/2011/07/data-shows-all-of-earths-systems-

in-rapid-decline/) Regarding social trends - a worthy statistical observation

is the apparent general increase in social destabilization or “uprisings” that

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

175

improving and balance-creating possibilities that could occur, if larger

order social changes were made. As noted before, these two trends

arguably appear to operate in system contradiction of each other.

In the essay titled Social Destabilization & Transition, an in-

depth look at the current state of societal affairs will be addressed in

detail. However, let it be stated that the efficiencies defined, defended

and suggested here are not done so simply to show how much better

the world “could be”, as though what we are doing today is still okay.

On the contrary, these basic observations actually demand alignment

if we intend to maintain stability in our world given its current,

degrading patterns.

With a population expected to reach over 9 billion by 2050,

534

with reported trends of looming food,

535

water

536

and energy

shortages,

537

these suggestions not only seek to improve but to

actually change course. Overall, it is the view of TZM that if these

current, so-called established trends persist with the shortsighted

market-based practice and all the characteristics that go along with it,

human culture will not only not achieve the positive application of the

potential trends expressed, increased destabilization will continue to

occur.

Post-Scarcity Worldview

In this section, basic statistics and trends will be presented to show

how we can, as a global society, achieve a “post-scarcity”

538

social

have been occurring in the past 30 years. A program tracking new reports

called (GDELT), shows a startling increase in such events. Ref: Data Map

Shows Protests Around the World Increase, With Caveat

(http://theglobalobservatory.org/analysis/576-mapping-some-of-the-

worlds-unrest-.html)

534 Source: U.N. Raises “Low” Population Projection for 2050

(http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6038)

535 Reference: Yield Trends Are Insufficient to Double Global Crop Production

by 2050

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/07/01/this-

unsettling-chart-shows-were-not-growing-enough-food-to-feed-the-world/)

536 Reference: The Coming Global Water Crisis

(http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/05/the-coming-

global-water-crisis/256896/)

537 The hydrocarbon economy and its degree of scarcity has been a

controversial subject for many decades. The debate over the current state

of supply, globally, has vast disagreement. “Peak Oil”, which has been the

categorical context of this debate, spans many decades, with the main

conclusion being that this form of energy is finite. Regional depletion, such

as the United States peak in the 1970s with respect to conventional oil

fields, provides axiomatic evidence that other regions and hence the world

itself will eventually peak, with many analysts seeing this occur in the very

near future. This, coupled with population growth and increased demand,

compounds the problem, if accurate. Ref:

(http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/world-oil-supplies-are-set-to-

run-out-faster-than-expected-warn-scientists-6262621.html)

538 The term “post-scarcity” denotes a state that eliminates access scarcity of

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

176

system. While scarcity in absolute terms will always be with humanity

to one degree or another in this closed system of Earthly resources,

scarcity on the level of human needs and basic material success is no

longer a viable defense of the market system's allocation methods.

539

As a brief aside, a common defense of the price system and

the market is that if any scarcity exists, it makes void any other

approach. The argument goes that since not everyone can have xyz,

xyz is scare and hence people need money (or have a lack thereof) to

filter out who gains xyz and who doesn't.

The problem with this assumption is that it ignores how certain

resources and hence goods have more relevance than others when it

comes to public health. Comparing the scarcity of a very expensive,

luxury car which draws status satisfaction from its owner more than its

basic purpose as a mode of transport - with the scarcity of food, which

is a core life requirement for health, is not legitimate in real life terms.

The former interest, while perhaps important to the ego satisfaction of

the owner who likely already has his or her basic needs met to afford

such a product, is not equivalent to the latter interest of those who

have little or nothing to eat and hence cannot survive. One cannot

arbitrarily conflate such “needs” and “wants”, as though they are

simply the same, in theory. Sadly, this is how the market system

behaves.

Likewise, with great wealth and material imbalance,

540

comes

inevitable social destabilization. Virtually every large-scale public

dissent and revolution we have seen in the past couple hundred years

have had some economic basis, usually revolving around societal

imbalance, exploitation and class separation.

541

The same goes for the

a given resource or process, usually by means of optimized efficiency

regarding production design and strategic use. Needless to say, the idea of

achieving total post-scarcity - meaning an infinite, abundant amount of

everything for everyone - is rightfully considered an impossibility, even in

the most optimistic views. Therefore, this term, as used here, really

highlights a point of focus.

539 Monetary economics is rooted in viewing the world from the standpoint of

shortages or inefficiencies. It is based around managing scarcity through a

system of price and value relationships. The more an item is scare, the

more it is valued.

540 The following quotation by historian Jerry Z. Muller embraces this reality

well: “Inequality is indeed increasing almost everywhere in the

postindustrial capitalist world. But despite what many on the left think, this

is not the result of politics, nor is politics likely to reverse it, for the problem

is more deeply rooted and intractable than generally recognized. Inequality

is an inevitable product of capitalist activity, and expanding equality of

opportunity only increases it -- because some individuals and communities

are simply better able than others to exploit the opportunities for

development and advancement that capitalism affords.”

(http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/138844/jerry-z-muller/capitalism-

and-inequality)

541 Both relative and absolute deprivation, meaning abject poverty and relative

socioeconomic status, show a powerful historical correlation to social

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

177

roots of crime, terrorism, addictions and other social problems.

Virtually all of these propensities are born out of deprivation, whether

absolute or relative and this deprivation is inherent to the nature of a

society based on competition and scarcity.

So, to simply reduce our economic reality down to mere trade,

coupled with the claim that any degree of scarcity justifies the use of

the market, price and money for allocation, is to ignore the true nature

of what ensures social harmony, stability, and public health. Would it

seem reasonable to forgo the technical ability to, say, elevate 80% of

humanity to the material capacity currently held by only 10% today,

simply because “not everyone can own a 500 room mansion”? Again,

the absurdity of this objection is quite clear when a system perspective

is taken with respect to what underscores true public health and social

stability.

That aside, below is a list of current life support realities

available to the global population that have gone unharnessed due to

inhibiting factors inherent to the market economy. Each point will be

addressed in its own sub-section.

1) Food Production: Current production methods already produce more

than enough food to feed all human beings on earth. Furthermore,

current trends toward more optimized technology and agricultural

methods also show a capacity to further increase production efficiency

and nutrition quality to a state of active abundance, with minimal

human labor and increasingly less energy, water and land

requirements.

2) Clean Water: Desalination and decontamination processes currently

exist to such a vast degree of application that no human being, even in

the present state of pollution levels, would ever need to be without

clean water, regardless of where they are on earth.

3) Energy: Between geothermal, wind, solar, and hydro, coupled with

system-based processes that can recapture expelled energy and reuse

it directly, there is an absolute energy abundance which can provide

for many times the current world's population.

4) Material Production/Access: The spectrum of material production,

from buildings to transport to common goods, has experienced a

powerful merging of capital goods, consumer goods and human labor.

With proper system incorporation of each genre of production, coupled

with optimized regeneration processes and a total transformation from

the use of property rights to a system of access rights, it is clear that

all known good functions (in the form of product) can be utilized by

destabilization and protest. "Occupy Wall St" which sparked a global protest

movement in 2011, was based, most specifically, around income inequality.

Its most notable slogan, "We are the 99%", denoted the vast wealth

differences between 99% of the population and the 1%, coupled with the

power abuse inherent because of this imbalance.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

178

100% of humanity, on a per need basis, in access abundance.

Carrying Capacity

However, before these four issues are addressed in detail, an analysis

of the Earth's “carrying capacity” is in order. Carrying capacity is

defined as “the maximum, equilibrium number of organisms of a

particular species that can be supported indefinitely in a given

environment.”

542

Speculation on the Earth's carrying capacity with respect to

human beings, meaning how many people the Earth and its biosphere

can support, has been a controversial subject for many centuries. For

example, a 2001 United Nations report said that two-thirds of the

estimates they noted at that time fell in the range of 4 billion to 16

billion with a median of about 10 billion.

543

However, technological change, and its capacity to increase

efficiency with respect to how our resources are used,

544

presents an

ongoing interference in such attempts to arrive at a tangible, empirical

figure. The reality is that the number of people the Earth can support

is highly variable and based, in part, on the current state of technology

at a given time and the more we progress our scientific and technical

understanding, the more people we tend to be able to support, with

less energy and resources applied per person.

Of course, this isn't to imply that within the closed system of

the Earth we have some infinite capacity to reproduce. Rather, it

highlights the relevance of what it means to be strategic, intelligent

and efficient with our resource use and, by extension, the

industrial/economic process itself.

Today, there is no evidence that we are at or are closely

approaching the Earth's carrying capacity, if we take into account the

trends that reveal our vast potential to “do more with less”, coupled

with a value system that clearly recognizes that we, as a species,

occupy a closed Earth system with natural limitations overall and that

it is our personal responsibility to ourselves, each other and future

generations to keep an interest in balance, efficiency and

sustainability.

This educational imperative suggests that a conscious,

informed global culture can stabilize its reproduction rate if need be,

without external force, if this basic relationship is properly understood.

Of course, much could be said about the influence of old, traditional

beliefs, such as religious doctrines that appear to suggest that ongoing

and constant procreation is a virtue. These views, which originated in

the absence of the knowledge we have today regarding our shared

existence on a finite planet, will likely be overcome naturally, with

542 Carrying capacity defined:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/carrying+capacity

543 Source: World population monitoring 2001, United Nations

(http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpm/wpm2001.pdf)

544 See essay Introduction to Sustainable Thought, section “Ephemeralization”

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

179

education.

545

Likewise, if current regions of accelerating population growth

are analyzed, it is found that those existing in deprivation and poverty

are reproducing faster than those who are not in poverty. While there

is some controversy as to why this pattern prevails, the correlation

appears to still be accurate. This evidence suggests that increasing

people's standard of living can curtail their rates of reproduction and

this furthers the social imperative to create a more equitable system of

resource allocation.

(1) Food Production

According to The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization,

one out of every eight people on Earth, (nearly 1 billion people) suffer

from chronic undernourishment. Almost all of these people live in

developing countries, representing 15 percent of the population of

these counties.

546

Poverty is, needless to say, clearly linked to this

phenomenon.

Yet, politics and business aside, world agriculture today

actually produces 17 percent more calories per person than it did 30

years ago, despite a 70 percent population increase. There is enough

food to provide everyone in the world with at least 2,720 kilocalories

(kcal) per day, which is more than enough to maintain good health for

most.

547

548

Therefore, the existence of such a large number of

chronically hungry people in the developing world today reveals, at a

minimum, that there is something fundamentally wrong with the

global industrial and economic process itself and not the Earth's

carrying capacity, or humanity's ability to process enough resources.

According to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, “[W]e

produce [globally] about four billion metric tonnes of food per annum.

Yet due to poor practices in harvesting, storage and transportation, as

well as market and consumer wastage, it is estimated that 30–50%

(or 1.2–2 billion tonnes) of all food produced never reaches a human

stomach. Furthermore, this figure does not reflect the fact that large

amounts of land, energy, fertilizers and water have also been lost in

545 Presently a great fear persists that curtailing or attempting to control the

population into more stable reproductive patterns is per se a necessarily

violent imposition. Future generations will understand, as a result of access

to more information about the planet's carrying capacity, that unchecked

"freedom" of reproduction is, in many ways, itself a violent act against the

unborn children, and the human race itself, when resource provision and

environmental integrity are not factored into the process.

546 Source: Globally almost 870 million chronically undernourished - new

hunger report, FAO

(http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/161819/)

547 Source: Reducing poverty and hunger..., FAO

(http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/y6265e/y6265e03.htm)

548 Source: How Many Calories Should I Eat?, MNT

(http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/245588.php

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

180

the production of foodstuffs which simply end up as waste.”

549

In the words of food waste researcher Valentin Thurn, “the

number of calories that end up in the garbage in North America and

Europe would be sufficient to feed the hungry of this world three times

over.”

550

Economically, First World waste patterns can create price

increases for the global food supply due to increased demand resulting

from those very waste patterns. In other words, the First World adds

to the world hunger epidemic by its waste patterns on the consumer

end because the resulting demand from increased waste increases

price values past what is affordable for many.

While there is certainly an educational imperative for the

consuming world to consider the relevance of their waste patterns in

the current climate, both in terms of real food waste and its effect on

global prices due to increased demand because of this waste, it

appears that the most effective and practical means to overcome this

global deficiency is to “update” the system of food production itself

with modern methods. This, coupled with deliberate localization of the

process itself in order to reduce the vast spectrum of waste caused by

inefficiencies in the current global food supply chain,

551

would not only

reduce such problems in general, it would dramatically increase

productivity, product quality and output overall.

While the active use of arable land and land-based agriculture

should remain (ideally, of course, with more sustainable practices than

we are using today),

552

a great deal of pressure can be alleviated at

this time with advanced soilless methods, which require less water,

less fertilizer, fewer (or no) pesticides, less land, and less labor. These

facilities can now be built in urban city environments or even off

coastlines, at sea.

553

Perhaps the most promising of all such arrangements is what

is known today as vertical farming.

554

Vertical farming has been put to

549 Source: Feeding the 9 Billion: The tragedy of waste, IME,

(http://www.imeche.org/knowledge/themes/environment/global-food)

550 Source: Author: European food waste adds to world hunger, dw.de

(http://www.dw.de/author-european-food-waste-adds-to-world-hunger/a-

15837215)

551 Reference: Food waste within food supply chains: quantification and

potential for change to 2050

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2935112/)

552 Topsoil is the top layer of soil that possesses the greatest concentration of

organic matter and microorganisms and it is from which plants obtain the

overwhelming majority of their nutrients. Today, it is disappearing at an

alarming rate primarily due to conventional agricultural practices such as

monoculture (the practice of planting one single crop over and over again).

Likewise, soil erosion is increasing rapidly with a large number of

problematic effects due to inefficient farming practices. Reference:

(http://www.ewg.org/losingground/)

553 Ref: http://newearthdaily.com/floating-vertical-farms-could-feed-the-

world-with-cheap-plentiful-produce/

554 Dickson Despommier, a professor of environmental health sciences and

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

181

test in a number of regions, with extremely promising results

regarding efficiency. Extrapolating these statistics, coupled with

parallel trend advancement (increases in efficiency) of the associated

mechanisms of this process, reveals that the future of abundant food

production will not only (compared to the current land-based tradition)

use fewer resources per unit output, cause less waste, have a reduced

ecological footprint, increase food quality and the like; it will also use

less of the surface of the planet and enable types of food that where

once restricted to certain climates or regions to be grown virtually

anywhere in enclosed, vertical systems.

While approaches vary, common methods include rotating crop

systems in transparent enclosures to use natural light, coupled with

hydroponic,

555

aeroponic

556

and/or aquaponic

557

water and nutrient

servicing systems. Artificial light systems are also being used, along

with other means to distribute natural light, such as the use of

parabolic mirror systems that can move light without electricity.

558

Many “waste to energy”

559

systems approaches to these structures are

increasingly common, as with advanced power systems based on

regenerative processes or localized sources. Between various

approaches, the capacity is dramatically increased since food can be

grown almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Common objections to this type of farming have mostly been

concerns over its energy footprint, criticizing the use of artificial light

in some arrangements as too power intensive. However, the use of

renewable energy systems, such as photovoltaics, coupled with

regional placement most conducive to renewable methods, such as

near wave, tidal or geothermal sources, presents plausible solutions

for sustainable, non-hydrocarbon based powering.

However, it is best to think about this in a comparative

context. In the U.S., up to 20 percent of the country's fossil fuel

consumption goes into the food chain, according to the UN's Food and

Agricultural Organization (FAO), which points out that fossil fuel use by

the food systems in the developed world "often rivals that of

microbiology at Columbia University, made notable the idea of vertical

farming around 1999.

555 Defined: “Cultivation of plants in nutrient solution rather than in soil.”

(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hydroponics)

556 Defined: A technique for growing plants without soil or hydroponic media.

The plants are held above a system that constantly mists the roots with

nutrient-laden water. Also called aeroculture.

(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/aeroponic)

557 Defined: Aquaculture is the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic

animals in a re-circulating system.

(http://www.growingpower.org/aquaponics.htm)

558 Source: What is Vertical Farming?, Jake Cox, 2009,

(http://www.onearth.org/blog/what-is-vertical-farming)

559 Reference: Waste to Energy, alternative-energy-news.info

(http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/garbage-energy/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

182

automobiles".

560

In Singapore, a vertical farm system, custom built in a

transparent enclosure, uses a closed loop, automated hydraulic system

to rotate the crop in circles between sunlight and an organic nutrient

treatment, costing only about $3 a month in electricity for each

enclosure.

561

This system is also reported as ten times more

productive per square foot than conventional farming, with much less

water, labor and fertilizer used, as noted above. There is also no real

transport cost given all produce is distributed locally, saving more

resources and energy.

Overall, there is a spectrum of applications as of now and, in

many cases, these preexisting structures, not intended for such work,

are being utilized.

562

In Chicago, IL, USA, the worlds largest certified

organic vertical farm is in operation. While producing mostly greens for

the local Chicago market, this 90,000 square foot facility uses an

aquaponic system,

563

with waste from tilapia fish providing nutrients

for the plants. The farm reportedly saves 90% of its water, compared

to conventional farming techniques, and produces no agricultural

runoff. Additionally, all of its waste, such as plant roots, stems and

even biodegradable packaging, is recycled in collaboration, making it a

zero-waste facility.

564

Current statistics vary with respect to the efficiency, often due

to monetary-based limitations and inherent profitability concerns. As

with much in the market system, promising technology finds

development only if it proves competitive. Given how new these ideas

are, we cannot expect to see many examples nor can we expect to see

an optimization of such methods to a high degree for measurement

without “market acceptance”.

However, we can extrapolate the realized potential of existing

systems, scaling the application out as if it were incorporated in every

major city, in its most relatively efficient form. The following list

confirms the superiority of this approach to the current, traditional

land based model, not only showing a more sustainable practice, but a

560 Source: All About: Food and fossil fuels, cnn.com

(http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/16/eco.food.miles/)

561 Source: Feeding 9 Billion: Vertical Farming – Singapore

(http://www.offgridworld.com/feeding-9-billion-vertical-farming-singapore-

video/)

562 Source: 'Mega' Indoor Vertical Farm: Chicago Suburb New Home To

Nation's Largest Such Facility

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/28/mega-indoor-vertical-

farm_n_2971328.html)

563 Aquaponics is a food production system that combines conventional

aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns

in tanks), with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic

environment.

564 Source: World’s largest vertical farm is certified organic

(http://www.forumforthefuture.org/greenfutures/articles/world%E2%80%9

9s-largest-vertical-farm-certified-organic)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

183

more productive practice which can, in concert with existing methods,

provide the entire world's population with vegetable based nutrition

many times over.

565

Versatile:

Unlike traditional farming, vertical farms can be constructed anywhere,

even on water, using upward layers to multiply output capacity. (i.e. a

ten-storey farm will produce 1/10 of a 100-storey farm.) This space

utilization is limited mostly to architectural possibility. Likewise, the

plants grown can be “on demand” in many ways, since region based

restrictions have been lifted since these farms can grow virtually

anything.

Reduced resource use:

Vertical Farming uses substantially less water and pesticide, and is

more conducive to non-hydrocarbon based nutrient/fertilizer methods.

Its energy use can vary based on application, but in its most efficient

setting it uses dramatically less energy both to power the farm itself,

and with respect to the now removed need for excess hydrocarbon

fertilizer and oil-fueled transport, which is a heavy burden in the

current, farm-based process.

More sustainable/less ecological damage:

The current tradition of farming has been recognized as one of the

most ecologically destructive processes of modern society. In the

words of environmental writer Renee Cho:

“As of 2008, 37.7 percent of global land and 45 percent of U.S.

land was used for agriculture. The encroachment of humans into wild

land has resulted in the spread of infectious disease, the loss of

biodiversity and the disruption of ecosystems. Over-cultivation and

poor soil management has led to the degradation of global agricultural

lands. The millions of tons of toxic pesticides used each year

contaminate surface waters and groundwater, and endanger wildlife.

Agriculture is responsible for 15 percent of global greenhouse

gas emissions, and accounts for one-fifth of U.S. fossil fuel use, mainly

to run farm equipment, transport food and produce fertilizer. As

excess fertilizer washes into rivers, streams and oceans, it can cause

eutrophication: algae blooms proliferate; when they die, they are

consumed by microbes, which use up all the oxygen in the water; the

result is a dead zone that kills all aquatic life. As of 2008, there were

405 dead zones around the world...more than two-thirds of the world’s

565 It is worth noting that all major nutritional requirements are technically

available in the genre of plant production. Contrary to popular belief, animal

products are not required to maintain a high quality human diet. The six

major classes of nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, dietary fiber, minerals,

proteins, vitamins), omitting water, can all be found in the plant

community. (This is not an argument for “vegetarianism”, it is just a fact.)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

184

fresh water is used for agriculture.”

566

Post-scarcity capacity:

Students at Columbia University working on vertical farm systems

determined that in order to feed 50,000 people, a 30-storey building

the size of a “New York City” block would be needed.

567

A New York

City block, loosely speaking, is about 6.4 acres.

568

If we extrapolate

this into the context of the city of Los Angeles, CA, USA, with a

population of about 3.9 million,

569

with a total acreage of about

318,912,

570

it would take roughly 78 thirty-storey, 6.4 covering land

acre structures to feed the local residents. This amounts to about

0.1% of the total land area of Los Angeles to feed the population.

571

The Earth, being about 29% land, has roughly 36,794,240,000

acres and a human population of 7.2 billion as of late 2013.

572

If we

extrapolate the same basis of a 30-storey vertical farm covering 6.4

acres to feed 50,000 people, we end up needing 144,000 vertical

farms, in theory, to feed the world.

573

This amounts to 921,600 acres

of land to place these farms.

574

Given roughly 38% of all the Earth's

land is currently being used for traditional agriculture (13,981,811,200

acres),

575

we find that we need only 0.006% of the Earth's existing

farmland to meet production requirements.

576

Now, these extrapolations are clearly theoretical and obviously

many other factors need to be taken into account with respect to

placement of such farm systems and critical specifics. Also, within the

38% land use statistic, much of that land is for livestock cultivation,

not just crop production. However, the raw statistics are quite

566 Source: Vertical Farms: From Vision to Reality

(http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/10/13/vertical-farms-from-vision-to-

reality/)

567 Source: Country, the City Version: Farms in the Sky Gain New Interest

(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/science/15farm.html?_r=0

568 Generally, in NYC the average length of a north-south block is 1/20th of a

mile, or 264 feet. An east-west block is about 1/5th of a mile, or 1,056 feet.

So, a square block would be 264 x 1056 = 278,784 square feet, which is

equal to 6.4 acres.

569 Source: United States Census Bureau, 2013 (http://www.census.gov/)

570 The city of Los Angeles is 498.3 sq miles that converts to 318,912 acres.

571 78 Buildings occupying 6.4 acres each equals 499.2 acres used total. 499.2

acres is 0.15% of the total acreage of Los Angeles (318,912)

572 Source: worldometers.info (http://www.worldometers.info/world-

population/)

573 7.2 billion (total population) divided by 50,000 (production capacity of one

30 story vertical farm) equals 144,000 needed structures.

574 6.4 (acres used per farm) times 144,000 (vertical farms) = 921,600 acres

575 Source: Farming Claims Almost Half Earth's Land, New Maps Show

(http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/12/1209_051209_crops_

map.html)

576 921,600 (acres of land needed to place vertical farms) is 0.006581% of

13,981,811,200. (Total acres of land on earth used for traditional

agriculture, both crop and livestock)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

185

incredible with respect to possible efficiency and capacity. In fact, if we

were to theoretically take only the crop production land alone currently

being used, which is about 4,408,320,000 acres,

577

replacing the land

based cultivation process by placing these 30-storey vertical farm

systems only (side by side), the food output would be enough to feed

34,440,000,000,000 people.

578

(34.4 Trillion)

Given that we will only need to feed 9 billion by 2050, we only

need to harness about 0.02% of this theoretical capacity, which, it

could be argued, likely makes rather moot any seemingly practical

objections common to the aforementioned extrapolation. As a final

note, proteins, which are readily available in the vegetative realm, are

still brought into question in the modern day with respect to interest in

meat production. From a sustainability standpoint, ignoring the

common moral issues and arguably inhumane practices still common

to industrialized livestock cultivation, the production of meat is an

environmentally unfriendly act today.

According to the ILRI, livestock systems occupy about 45% of

the Earth's surface.

579

According to the FAO, livestock sector produces

more greenhouse gas emissions than modern gas consuming

transport.

580

Given that 90% of all the large fish once thriving in the

ocean are gone due to overfishing as well,

581

new solutions are

needed.

One such solution is aquaculture, which is the direct farming of

fish, crustaceans and the like. This direct approach, if sustainably

driven, can provide farm raised, protein rich fish for human

consumption, replacing the demand for land-based meat. Another

approach is the production of “in vitro meat”. In vitro meat may be

produced as strips of muscle fibre, which grow through the fusion of

precursor cells, either embryonic stem cells or specialized satellite cells

found in muscle tissue. This type of meat is usually cultured in a

bioreactor.

While still experimental, in 2013 the world's first lab-grown

577 Source: Farming Claims Almost Half Earth's Land, New Maps Show

(http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/12/1209_051209_crops_

map.html)

578 6.4 acres (which is what has been determined as enough space to feed

50,000 people) goes into 4,408,320,000 (total land used currently for only

crop cultivation on earth) 688,800,000 times. 688,800,000, which represent

the number of possible facilities where each can produce enough food to

feed 50,000 people, translate into an output capacity of

34,440,000,000,000 people that can be fed. (688,800,000 x 50,000 =

34,440,000,000,000)

579 Source: Livestock and climate change

(http://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/10601/IssueBrief3.pdf)

580 Source: Livestock a major threat to environment

(http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/News/2006/1000448/index.html)

581 Source: Big-Fish Stocks Fall 90 Percent Since 1950, Study Says

(http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0515_030515_fishdecli

ne.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

186

burger was cooked and eaten in London.

582

Other benefits include the

reduction of livestock sourced disease which is very common, along

with being able to avoid certain negative health characteristics of

traditional meat, such as the removal of fatty acids in production.

(2) Clean Water

Given that the human body can only survive a few days without fresh

water,

583

making this most basic resource abundantly available to all is

critical. Likewise, it is the backbone of many industrial production

methods, including agriculture itself. Fresh water is naturally occurring

water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, icebergs,

bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as

groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Of all the water on

Earth, 97% of it is saline and not directly consumable.

According to the World Health Organization: “About 2.6 billion

people – half the developing world – lack even a simple ‘improved’

latrine and 1.1 billion people have no access to any type of improved

drinking source of water. As a direct consequence:

● 1.6 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases (including

cholera) attributable to lack of access to safe drinking water and basic

sanitation and 90% of these are children under 5, mostly in developing

countries;

● 160 million people are infected with schistosomiasis causing tens of

thousands of deaths yearly; 500 million people are at risk of trachoma

from which 146 million are threatened by blindness and 6 million are

visually impaired;

● Intestinal helminths (ascariasis, trichuriasis and hookworm infection)

are plaguing the developing world due to inadequate drinking water,

sanitation and hygiene with 133 million suffering from high intensity

intestinal helminths infections; there are around 1.5 million cases of

clinical hepatitis A every year.”

584

According to the United Nations, by 2025, an estimated 1.8

billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity, with two-

thirds of the world's population living in water-stressed regions.

585

As

with most all of the world's current resource problems, it is an issue of

582 Source: World's first lab-grown burger is eaten in London

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23576143)

583 Freshwater is defined as water that does not contain salt and can be used

for human consumption and other processes, such as agriculture.

(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freshwater)

584 Source: Health through safe drinking water and basic sanitation

(http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/mdg1/en/)

585 Source: Freshwater Crisis

(http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/fresh

water-crisis/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

187

both poor management and a lack of industrial application. From the

standpoint of management, the amount of water wasted in the world

due to pollution, overuse and inefficient infrastructure is enormous.

About 95% of all water that enters most people's homes goes back

down the drain in one shot.

586

A systems-based solution to optimize this use is to design

kitchens and bathrooms so they recapture water for different

purposes. For example, the water running through a sink or shower

can be made available for a toilet. Various companies have slowly put

such ideas to practice recently but overall most infrastructures do

nothing of the sort as far as reuse schemes. The same is true of large

commercial buildings, which can create reuse networks throughout the

whole structure, coupled with capture of rainwater for other purposes,

etc.

Water pollution is another problem, which affects both

developed and developing nations on many levels. The American

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 850 billion

gallons of untreated discharges (waste) flow into water bodies

annually, contributing to over 7 million illnesses each year.

587

The

Third World Centre for Water Management estimates that only about

10 to 12 percent of wastewater in Latin America is treated properly.

Mexico City, for example, “exports” its untreated wastewater to local

farmers.

While the farmers value this because the water increases crop

yields, the wastewater is heavily contaminated with pathogens and

toxic chemicals, representing a serious health risk for both farmers

and consumers of the agricultural products grown in this area. In

India, major cities discharge untreated wastewater into the bodies of

water that serve as their drinking water. Delhi, for example,

discharges wastewater directly into the Yamuna River—the source of

drinking water for some 57 million people.

588

Solutions to this problem, in part, must address the issue of

the vast inefficiency, likely driven by the monetary limitations of most

governments, to institute proper waste systems, coupled with an

industrial design imperative to include reuse system techniques to

better preserve and utilize our existing resources.

That aside, the most notable, broad solution to compensate for

these emerging problems, to facilitate not only an alleviation of the

current water problems affecting over 2 billion people but also to

transcend into a condition of relative abundance of fresh water for all

586 Source: Water: Use Less-Save More, Jon Clift & Amanda Cuthbert, 2007

587 Source: Compliance and Enforcement National Priority: Clean Water Act,

Wet Weather, Combined Sewer Overflows

(http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/publications/data/planning/prior

ities/fy2008prioritycwacso.pdf)

588 Source: Water Quality: An Ignored Global Crisis

(http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-21/water-quality-an-

ignored-global-crisis)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

188

humans, is to utilize modern (a) purification and (b) desalination

systems both on the macro-industrial and micro-industrial scale.

(a) Purification:

Advancements in water purification have been accelerating rapidly with

many technological variations of approach. Perhaps one of the most

efficient today is what is called “ultraviolet (UV) disinfection”. This

process is highly scalable, low energy and works quickly.

According to engineer Ashok Gadgil, inventor of portable UV

systems, “In terms of energy use, 60 watts of electrical power – which

is comparable to the power used in one ordinary table lamp – is

enough to disinfect water at the rate of one ton per hour, or fifteen

liters per minute...This much water is enough to meet the drinking

water needs of a community of 2,000 people.”

589

This device Gadgil

developed for rural, poor areas can run off of solar panels and weighs

only 15 pounds and has no toxic discharge.

Of course, there is no silver bullet. While UV disinfection works

very well for bacteria and viruses, it is less effective with other types

of pollution such as suspended solids, turbidity, color, or soluble

organic matter.

590

In large-scale applications, UV is often combined

with more standard treatments, such as chlorine, as is the case with

the world's largest UV drinking water disinfection plant in New York,

which can treat 2.2 billion US gallons (8,300,000 cubic meters) per

day.

591

That is 3,029,500,000 cubic meters a year.

The average person in the United States uses 2842 cubic

meters a year.

592

This includes fresh water used for industrial

purposes, not just for direct (drinking) consumption. The global

average is 1385 cubic meters per year.

593

China, India and the United

States are currently the largest freshwater users in the world and the

majority of that water is used in production, mainly agriculture.

594

In

fact, about 70% of all freshwater is used for agriculture globally.

595

For the sake of pure statistical argument, ignoring the highly

needed revisions towards strategic water use, reuse systems and

conservation possibilities through more advanced and efficient

industrial applications, let us assess the simple question of what it

589 Source: Ashok Gadgil on safe drinking water

(http://www.renegademedia.info/books/ashok-gadgil.html)

590 Source: Ultraviolet Disinfection

(http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/pdf/dw/publications/ontap/2009_tb/ultraviolet_d

wfsom53.pdf)

591 Source: Multi-barrier Disinfection Strategy - New York City (Case Study)

(http://www.trojanuv.com/uvresources?resource=403)

592 Source: waterfootprint.org

(http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=cal/waterfootprintcalculator_national

)

593 Source: Ibid.

594 Source: Which Nations Consume the Most Water?

(http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=water-in-water-out)

595 Source: worldometers.info (http://www.worldometers.info/water/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

189

would require to disinfect (assuming it was needed) all the fresh water

currently being used in the world on average by the population, in all

contexts. Given the global average of 1385 cubic meters and a

population of 7.2 billion, we arrive at a total annual use of 9.972

trillion cubic meters.

Using the New York UV plant's output capacity of roughly 3

billion cubic meters a year as a base per installation of such a plant,

we find that 3,327 plants would be needed globally.

596

The New York

plant is about 3.7 acres (160k sq. ft.).

597

This means about 12,309

acres of land is needed, in theory, to facilitate a purification process of

all the fresh water currently used globally by the population. Of

course, needless to say, there many other “footprint” factors that

come into play, such as power needs, coupled with the critical

importance of location.

However, let's put this into a larger, more thoughtful

comparison. The United States military alone, with its roughly 845,441

military buildings and bases, occupies about 30 million acres of land

globally.

598

Only 0.04% of that land would be needed to disinfect the

total fresh water use of the entire world, if it were even needed at

scale, which it is not.

(b) Desalination

The realistic possibility of mass, global purification of polluted fresh

water aside, likely the most powerful means to assure usable, potable

water is to convert directly from a saline source, namely the ocean.

With a planet comprised of mostly salt water, this technique, if done

properly, assures global abundance alone.

The most common method of desalination used today is

reverse osmosis, a process that removes water molecules from salt

water, leaving salt ions in a leftover brine waste by-product. According

to the International Desalination Association: “Currently, reverse

osmosis (RO)...accounts for nearly 60 percent of installed capacity,

followed by the thermal processes multi-stage flash (MSF) at 26

percent and multi-effect distillation (MED) at 8.2 percent.”

599

As of

2011, there were roughly 16,000 desalination plants worldwide, and

the total global capacity of all plants online (e.g., in operation) was

66.5 million cubic meters per day, or approximately 17.6 billion US

gallons per day.

600

As with everything technological, many advancing methods

596 9 trillion 972 billion divided by 3 billion

597 Source: Catskill-Delaware Water Ultraviolet Disinfection Facility

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catskill-

Delaware_Water_Ultraviolet_Disinfection_Facility#cite_note-nyc_pr-1)

598 Source: The Worldwide Network of US Military Bases

(http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-worldwide-network-of-us-military-

bases/5564)

599 Source: Desalination Overview (http://www.idadesal.org/desalination-

101/desalination-overview/)

600 Source: Ibid.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

190

currently considered “experimental” suggest a powerful increase in

efficiency as the trends unfold. One such method called capacitive

desalination (CD), also known as capacitive deionization (CDI), has

been shown to operate with greater energy efficiency, lower pressures,

no membrane components and it does not produce a waste discharge

like conventional practices. It can also be easily scaled-up simply by

increasing the number of flow electrodes in the system.

601

Overall, if we examine the existing methods in general,

coupled with emerging methods, we see a general trend of increasing

efficiency in both power conservation and performance.

602

That briefly

noted, the focus of this extrapolation towards a “post-scarcity”

utilization of desalination will consider only current, proven, in-use

methods, namely the reverse osmosis system.

The Wonthaggi Desalination Plant is an advanced reversed

osmosis seawater desalination plant on the Bass Coast near

Wonthaggi, in southern Victoria, Australia. It was completed in

December 2012. It can produce, conservatively, about 410,000 cubic

meters of desalinated water a day (150 million cubic meters a year),

603

while occupying about 20 hectares (about 50 acres of land).

604

Since,

as noted before, the total, annual water use of the world today is

about 9 trillion, 972 billion cubic meters, this means that it would take

60,000 plants

605

to process all potable water usage. Once again, this

extreme extrapolation is to make a relative point, since we do not

need to desalinate that much water in reality.

However, assuming that we did need to desalinate seawater

constantly to match current global use, 3 million acres of land would

be needed total. Earth has about 217,490

606

miles of coastline which

means, loosely using the Wonthaggi model of roughly 20 hectares

(roughly 50 acres) with 100 meters per hectare (or 328 feet),

assuming the construction was four hectares deep and five hectares

long, parallel to the coastline, the plant would take up 1640 feet along

the coast. This means, assuming 60,000 plants of the same

dimension, it would take up 98,400,000 feet or 18,636 miles of

coastline (8.5% of the world's coastline).

601 Source: Flow electrodes may enable large-scale sea water desalination

(http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/03/sea-water-desalination-

capacitive-deionisation)

602 Source: Advancements in Desalination

(http://www.weat.org/sanantonio/files/06%20-

%20Summer%20Seminar%202013%20-%20Jim%20Lozier%20-

%20Adv%20in%20Desal.pdf)

603 Source: Victorian Desalination Plant

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonthaggi_desalination_plant)

604 Source: Wonthaggi Desalination Plant

(http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/melbourne_details.php?id=31996#.Ulj

SCWRDp94)

605 9 trillion, 972 million divided by 150 million

606 Source: The Coastline Paradox

(http://grokearth.blogspot.com/2012/04/coastline-paradox.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

191

Of course, that is a great deal of coastline and naturally many

other factors come into play when choosing an appropriate location for

such a plant. Again, it is not the purpose of this extrapolation to

suggest these statistics are of any other use than to gauge a broad

sense of what such capacity means, in light of the water

scarcity/stress issues occurring today. Yet, the fact is, it is clearly

within the range of such application to meet the needs of people

suffering from water scarcity via desalination alone, coupled with an

infrastructure and distribution system to move water inland.

As a final example, let's reduce this abstract extrapolation

more so and apply it to a real life circumstance. On the continent of

Africa, for example, which has about 1 billion people as of 2013,

607

roughly 345 million people lack sufficient access to potable water.

608

If

we apply the noted global average consumption rate of 1385 cubic

meters a year, seeking to provide each of those 345 million people

that amount, we would need 477,825,000,000 cubic meters produced

annually.

Using the Wonthaggi annual capacity of 150 million cubic

meters produced as the base figure, Africa would need 3185 50-acre

plants along its coast line to meet such demand, taking up about

(25,158 miles of coastline in Africa) 5,223,400 feet or 989 miles. This

takes up only 3.9% of Africa's coastline.

609

However, if we divided this number in half, and used UV

purification systems for one section and desalinization for the other,

the desalinization process would need about 1.9%, or 494 miles of

coastline for desalination facilities and only about 296 acres of land for

purification facilities, which is a minuscule faction of Africa total

landmass (of about 7 billion acres). This is highly doable and

obviously, in this case and in all cases, we would strategically

maximize purification processes since it is more efficient, while using

desalination for the remaining demand.

Such crude statistics reveal that between UV and traditional

decontamination, coupled with traditional desalination processes, as

they currently exist, even ignoring the rapid advancements occurring

in both fields

610

which will likely have an exponentially advanced level

of efficiency in the coming decades, the idea of enduring water scarcity

on planet Earth is absurd. Both of these isolated extrapolations have

assumed only one or the other was applied, in only large scale form,

607 Source: World population (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population)

608 Source: water.org (http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water/)

609 It is also worth noting that floating, off shore plants are also technically

possible. (http://www.bmtdesigntechnology.com.au/design-

solutions/floating-desalination-plant/)

610 An advanced technology called the “Slingshot”, invented by Dean Kamen, is

a small-scale water purification system that can produce clean water from

almost any source, including seawater, by means of vapor compression

distillation. It requires no filters, and can even operate using cow dung as

fuel.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

192

assuming there are no other existing sources of potable water.

In reality, given the existing level of freshwater still available,

coupled with a simple, intelligent re-ordering of use-reuse water

network schemes to further preserve the existing capacity, coupled

with both large and small scale desalination and decontamination

processes as regions require (many of which can be powered by

rapidly advancing renewable energy processes as well), we have the

technical capacity to bring potable water availability to absolute global

abundance.

(3) Energy

Renewable energy sources are sources that are continually

replenished. Such sources include energy from water, wind, solar and

geothermal. In contrast, fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas are

non-renewable as they are based on Earth stores which show no near-

term regeneration.

As of the early 21

st

century, the recognition of clean,

renewable energy possibilities has been substantial.

611

The spectrum

of application, scalability and degree of efficiency, coupled with

advancing methods for energy storage and transfer, have arguably

made our current, mostly hydrocarbon-based energy methods appear

outdated, especially given the ongoing negative consequences of their

use. Nuclear energy, while effective and considered a “renewable”

form by some, works at very high risk given the unstable materials

involved and the large scale accidents on record have brought the

safety of this form of production into question as well.

612

In the world today, the five most commonly used renewable

sources are hydropower (via dams), solar, wind, geothermal and

biofuels. Renewable energy sources currently represent about 15% of

global energy use, with hydro-power accounting for 97% of this

figure.

613

Given that over 1.2 billion people are without access to

electricity worldwide,

614

coupled with the ongoing pollution and

periodic crises associated with traditional, non-renewable methods, the

purpose of this subsection is to show how the dangerous realities

associated with fossil fuels and nuclear energy are no longer needed.

We can now power the world many times over with clean, renewable,

relatively low impact methods, largely localized as per the needs of a

single structure, city or industrial application.

611 Source: Types of Renewable Energy

(http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/tech/home)

612 Source: Fukushima nuke pollution in sea 'was world's worst'

(http://phys.org/news/2011-10-fukushima-nuke-pollution-sea-world.html)

613 Source: Renewable Energy

(http://www.energyzone.net/aboutenergy/renewable_energy.asp)

614 Source: Energy – The Facts

(http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTENERGY2/0,,con

tentMDK:22855502~pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:4114200,00.

html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

193

However, it is important to point out upfront that there is no

single solution at this time. Given that different areas of the Earth

have different propensities for renewable energy harnessing and use,

application must be seen as a system or network development of a

combination of mediums. That noted, narrowing down the most

relevant of these abundance producing possibilities, it is perhaps best

to think of renewable energy extraction/harnessing and use in two

categories: (a) Large scale/Base-load & (b) Small Scale & Total Mixed-

Use systems.

(a) Large Scale/Base-load:

Large-scale generation, such as for “base-load” needs required to

power a city or high energy industrial center, includes four main

mediums: (a1) geothermal plants, (a2) wind farms, (a3) solar fields,

and (a4) water (ocean/hydropower).

(a1) Geothermal:

Geothermal power

615

is energy harnessed essentially from the natural

heat of the Earth's molten core, with plants usually placed around

areas where the distance to large heat centers is fairly shallow.

616

617

A

2006 MIT report on geothermal energy, promoting an advanced

extraction system called EGS, found that 13,000 zettajoules of power

are currently available in the Earth, with the possibility of 2000

zettajoules being harvestable with improved technology.

618

The total energy consumption of all the countries on the planet

is about half a zettajoule (0.55) a year

619

and this means thousands of

years of planetary power could be harnessed in this medium alone.

The MIT report also estimated that there was enough energy in hard

rocks 10km below the US alone to supply all the world's current needs

for 30,000 years.

Even with an expected 56% increase of consumption by 2040,

geothermal's capacity is enormous if properly tapped.

620

621

Likewise,

the extraction of heat taking place from within the Earth appears quite

615 Geothermal power in this context isn't to be confused with small scale,

geothermal heating/cooling processes that utilizes heat from a few feet

below the surface. (i.e. geothermal heat pumps)

616 Source: Geothermal Energy Facts

(http://geothermal.marin.org/pwrheat.html#Q1)

617 Source: Back to Basics Video: What Is Geothermal Energy Anyway?

(http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/video/view/back-to-basics-

video-what-is-geothermal-energy-anyway)

618 Source: Future of Geothermal Energy

(http://geothermal.inel.gov/publications/future_of_geothermal_energy.pdf)

619 Source: EIA projects world energy consumption will increase 56% by 2040

(http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=12251)

620 Source: Ibid.

621 Source: Geothermal Energy Could Provide All the Energy the World Will

Ever Need

(http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/09/geother

mal-energy-is-the-solution-for-the-future)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

194

minor in comparison to its store, making the source virtually limitless

in proportion to actual human consumption.

622

Also, since the energy

is produced constantly, there are no intermittency problems and this

type of energy can be produced constantly without the need for

storage.

The environmental impact of geothermal is relatively very low.

Iceland has been using it almost exclusively for some time and their

plants produce extremely low emissions (no carbon) when compared

to hydrocarbon-based methods.

623

Apart from some sulphur produced,

small earthquakes can occur as a result of drilling techniques. This

problem has been acknowledged as human induced

624

and

improvement in the engineering process is the solution, coupled with

clear understanding of the nature of the location for drilling.

As far as location, it is theoretically possible to place

geothermal energy extraction plants anywhere, if the capacity to drill

deep enough was there, coupled with other advancements in

technology.

625

However, today most plants need to exist near where

tectonic plates

626

meet on Earth. A geothermal map of the surface of

the Earth taken by satellite can show such ideal spots very clearly

based on heat emitted.

627

These maps show possibilities near most

coastlines around the world

628

and while most studies are ambiguous

with respect to exactly how many locations could be made available,

the potential recognized, in general, is enormous.

The U.S. Department of Energy has noted that geothermal

energy also uses much less land than other energy sources, including

fossil fuel and currently dominant renewables. Over 30 years, the

period of time commonly used to compare the life cycle impacts from

different power sources, a geothermal facility uses 404 meters squared

of land per gigawatt hour, while a coal facility uses 3,632 meters

squared per gigawatt hour.

629

If we were to do a basic comparison of

622 Source: Geothermal FAQs

(http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/faqs.html)

623 Source: Geothermal energy emissions of little concern

(http://thinkgeoenergy.com/archives/1733)

624 Source: How Does Geothermal Drilling Trigger Earthquakes?

(http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=geothermal-drilling-

earthquakes&page=2)

625 Source: First Google.Org-funded geothermal mapping reportconfirms vast

coast-to-coast clean energy source

(http://www.smu.edu/News/2011/geothermal-24oct2011)

626 Source: Plate Tectonics

(http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/the-dynamic-

earth/plate-tectonics-article/)

627 Source: First Google.Org-funded geothermal mapping reportconfirms vast

coast-to-coast clean energy source

(http://www.smu.edu/News/2011/geothermal-24oct2011)

628 Source: geni.org (http://www.geni.org/globalenergy/library/renewable-

energy-resources/geothermal.shtml)

629 Source: geo-energy.org (http://geo-

energy.org/geo_basics_environment.aspx)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

195

geothermal to coal given this ratio of meters squared to gigawatt hour,

we find that we could fit about nine geothermal plants in the space of

one coal plant.

630

631

Likewise, it is important to note that new, more efficient

methods to tap geothermal appear to be just starting with respect to

possible output potential. In 2013 it was announced that a 1000 MW

power station was to begin construction in Ethiopia.

632

A megawatt is a

unit of power, and power capacity is expressed differently from energy

capacity, which is expressed, in this context of megawatts, as

megawatt hours (MWh). Put another way, energy is the amount of

work done, whereas power is the rate of doing work. So, for example,

a generator with one MW capacity that operates at that capacity

consistently for one hour will produce 1 MW-hour (MWh) of electricity.

This means if a 1000 MW geothermal power-station operated

at full capacity 24 hours a day, seven days a year (365 days), it would

produce 8,760,000 MWh/year.

633

The world's current annual usage in

MWh is about 153 Billion,

634

which means it would take, in abstraction,

17,465 geothermal plants to match global use.

635

According to the World Coal Association, there are over 2,300

coal power plants in operation worldwide.

636

Using the aforementioned

plant size/capacity comparison of about nine geothermal plants fitting

into one coal plant, the space of 1,940

637

(or 84% of the total in

existence) coal plants would be needed, in theory, to contain the

17,465 geothermal plants. Also, given coal today accounts for only

41% of the world's current energy production,

638

this theoretical

extrapolation also shows how in 84% of the current space usage by

coal plants alone (which only produce 41%), geothermal could supply

100% power capacity as per global use instead.

All this without the pollution from coal, which has been

630 3626 m2 / 404 m2 = 8.975 square meters

631 It is worth noting that geothermal, and, in fact, all other renewables

addressed in this text, inherently combine the extraction or harnessing

location with the processing and power distribution location. All hydrocarbon

sources, on the other hand, require both extraction (i.e. coal) and

processing/power production facilities (i.e. refineries/power plants), almost

always in separate locations. As per the current example, the mining land

required for coal extraction is omitted from the equation. In short,

renewables take up substantially less land and have a exceptionally lower

environmental impact in this regard.

632 Source: The Carbon Capture Report

(http://www.dailyethiopia.com/index.php?aid=1498)

633 8760 (hrs in a year) x 1000 (MWh) = 8,760,000 Mwh/year.

634 0.55 zettajoules coverts to about 153 billion MWh

635 153 billion MWh (total global use) / 8,760,000 MWh (geothermal plant

capacity) = 17,465 geothermal plants.

636 Source: worldcoal.org (http://www.worldcoal.org/resources/frequently-

asked-questions/)

637 17,465 / 9 = 1940.5

638 Source: worldcoal.org (http://www.worldcoal.org/coal/uses-of-coal/coal-

electricity/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

196

considered one of the most polluting practices in the world along with

being likely the largest contributor to the human-made increase of CO

2

in the atmosphere.

(a2) Wind Farms

U.S. Department of Energy studies have concluded that wind

harvesting in the Great Plains states of Texas, Kansas, and North

Dakota could provide enough electricity to power the entire USA.

639

More impressively, a 2005 Stanford University study published in the

Journal of Geophysical Research found that if only 20% of the wind

potential on the planet was harnessed, it would cover the entire

world’s energy needs.

640

In corroboration, two more recent studies by unrelated

organizations published in 2012 calculated that with existing wind

turbine technology the earth could produce hundreds of trillions of

watts of power. This, in effect, is many more times what the world

currently consumes.

641

Wind power is perhaps one of the most simple

and low impact forms of renewable energy and its scalability is limited

only to location.

Using the 9,000-acre Alta Wind Energy Center California as a

basis, which has an active capacity of 1,320 MW of power, a

theoretical annual output of 11,563,200 MWh is possible.

642

This

means 13,231 9000-acre wind farms would be needed to meet the

current output figure of 153 billion MWh. This means 119,079,000

acres of (wind sufficient) land would be required.

643

This amounts to

0.3% of the Earth's surface that would be needed to power the world,

in abstraction.

644

Once again, this is not to suggest such a thing is

ideal given what land is feasible for wind farms, along with other

important factors. This is simply to give a general perspective of

possibility.

However, one unique reality of wind power generation is the

potential of offshore harnessing. Compared to land-based wind power,

offshore wind power has, on average, a much larger yield, as wind

speeds tend to be higher. This reality also alleviates land-based

pressures given land scarcity and regional restrictions.

According to the Assessment of Offshore Wind Energy

Resources for the United States, 4,150 gigawatts (4,150,000 MW) of

potential wind turbine capacity from offshore wind resources are

available in the United States.

645

Assuming this power capacity was

639 Source: "U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory”. February 6th 2007

640 Source: Evaluation of global wind power

(http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/winds/global_winds.html)

641 Source: The Earth Has Enough Wind Energy Potential To Power All Of

Civilization (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-earth-has-enough-wind-

energy-potential-to-power-all-of-civilization-2012-9)

642 8760 (hrs in a year) x 1320 (MW) = 11,563,200 MWh/year.

643 13,231 x 9000 acres = 119,079,000

644 119,079,000 acres is 0.32% of 36,794,240,000 acres (total land on Earth)

645 Source: Assessment of Offshore Wind Energy Resources for the United

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

197

consistent for a year, we end up with an energy conversion of

36,354,000,000 MWh/yr. Given the United States, in 2010, used

25,776 TWh of energy (25.78 billion MWh),

646

we find that offshore

wind harvesting alone exceeds national use by about 10.6 billion

MWhs, or 41%.

Intuitively, extrapolating this national level of capacity to the

rest of the world's coastlines, also taking into account the

aforementioned land-based only statistic research that found we can

power the world many times over onshore as well,

647

the possibilities

of wind-based energy abundance is exceptionally impressive.

(a3) Solar Fields

The upper atmosphere of Earth receives about 1.5 × 1021 watt-hours

of solar radiation annually. This vast amount of energy is more than

23,000 times that used by the human population of the planet.

648

If

humanity could capture one tenth of one percent of the solar energy

striking the Earth we would have access to six times as much energy

as we consume in all forms today, with almost no greenhouse gas

emissions. The ability to harness this power depends on the

technology and how high the percentage of radiation absorption is.

Conventional photovoltaics, currently the most common form

used mostly for smaller applications, use silicon as the semiconductor

and exist in something of a flat cell or sheet. Concentrated

photovoltaics (CPV) are generally more efficient than non-concentrated

on average; however they tend to require more direct exposure to

focus the light properly.

Concentrated solar power (CPS) is a large-scale approach that

uses mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight, or solar

thermal energy, onto a small area. Electrical power is produced when

the concentrated light is converted to heat, which drives a heat engine

(such as a steam turbine) connected to an electrical power generator

or the like. Unlike photovoltaics, which convert directly to electricity,

this technology converts to heat. Recently, large-scale storage

methods have also been used to prolong access at night.

A variation of CPS is STE, or Solar Thermal Energy. The

Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California, USA is a 3500

acre field

649

with a stated annual generation of 1,079,232 MWh.

650

States (http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/45889.pdf)

646 Source: Energy in the United States

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_the_United_States#cite_note-

IEA2012-13)

647 Source: The Earth Has Enough Wind Energy Potential To Power All Of

Civilization (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-earth-has-enough-wind-

energy-potential-to-power-all-of-civilization-2012-9)

648 Source: thefreedictionary.com

(http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/solar+energy)

649 Source: World’s biggest solar thermal power plant fires up for first time

(http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/worlds-biggest-solar-thermal-power-

plant-fires-first-time-89135)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

198

While Ivanpah does not use any form of storage, it serves about

140,000 homes in the region. If we were to extrapolate using Ivanpah

as a basis, it would take 141,767 fields or 496,184,500 acres to

theoretically meet current global energy use based on output. This is

1.43% of total land on Earth.

651

Once again, this is not to suggest such a thing is practical nor

is it to ignore the radiation yield differences found on different areas of

the Earth. However, deserts, which tend to be highly conducive for

solar fields while often less conducive to life support for people, are

roughly 1/3 of all the land mass in the world or about 12 billion acres.

Compared to the roughly 500 million acres theoretically needed to

“power the world” as per our extrapolation, only 4.1% of the world's

desert land would be needed.

652

Likewise, other projects similar to the Ivanpah field have been

incorporating storage systems. The Solana 280MW solar power plant in

Arizona combines parabolic trough mirror technology with molten salt

thermal storage and is able to continue outputting up to six hours after

the sky goes dark.

653

In general, the rate of advancement of photovoltaic, solar

thermal, storage methods and other existing and emerging

technologies continue to rapidly advance, revealing that many

installations seen as highly efficient today will be grossly inefficient in

a decade or two. As will be addressed more so with respect to smaller

scale renewable energy solutions, the use of solar power localized in

the very construction of buildings and domiciles is likely to be where

true future efficiency will take place. The issue is making the

technology compact and efficient enough for localized, per case use.

However, solar field power stations, just like geothermal and

wind, have an enormous global potential in and of themselves and

there is little doubt that given proper resources and attention, these

fields alone could theoretically establish an infrastructure and

efficiency level to power the world alone.

(a4) Water/Hydro Energy

Water-based renewable energy extraction could generally be said to

have two broad sources: the ocean itself and river-type water flows

which use the gravitational force of falling or flowing water, usually in

an inland watercourse. The latter is generally referred to in practice as

650 Source: Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System

(http://www.nrel.gov/csp/solarpaces/project_detail.cfm/projectID=62)

651 153 billion MWh / 1,079,232MWh = 141,767 plants @ 3,500 acres =

496,184,500 acres. 496,184,500 acres is 1.43 % of 36,794,240,000 (total

land)

652 Reference: Is Anything Stopping a Truly Massive Build-Out of Desert Solar

Power? (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=challenges-for-

desert-solar-power)

653 Source: Solar Plant Generates Power For Six Hours After Sunset

(http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/solar/concentrating-solar/solar-plant-

generates-power-for-six-hours-after-sunset.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

199

hydroelectric and, as noted before, it is currently a fairly large part of

the existing renewable energy infrastructure.

654

On the other hand, the vast potential of the ocean has yet to

be harnessed within a fraction of its capacity. It is not far-fetched to

suggest that the intelligent harvesting of both the various mechanical

movements of ocean water coupled with exploiting the differences in

heat, known as ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), that ocean

water power couldn't also power the world alone.

655

656

657

Given the

existing, fairly large-scale use of hydroelectric power (dams) already,

this section will instead focus on the ocean potentials.

The most pronounced sea-based potentials at this time appear

to be wave, tidal, ocean current, ocean thermal and osmotic. Waves

are primarily caused by winds; tides are primarily caused by the

gravitational pull of the moon; ocean currents are primarily caused by

the rotation of the Earth; ocean thermal results from solar heat

absorbed by the surface of the ocean; and osmotic power is when

fresh water and salt water meet, exploiting the difference in salt

concentration.

Wave:

It has been found that wave power's usable global potential is about 3

TW

658

or about 26,280 TWh/yr assuming constant harnessing. This is

almost 20% of current global use. This amount of power has been

ascertained essentially by analyzing deep-water regions off continent

coastlines. The theoretical power estimate has been estimated at 3.7

TW, with the final net estimate reduced by about 20% to compensate

for various inefficiencies related to a given region, such as ice

coverage. Energy output is basically determined by wave height, wave

speed, wavelength, and water density.

Wave farms, or the construction of wave harnessing plants off

a coastline, have seen limited large-scale application at this time, with

only about six countries sparsely applying the technology.

659

Locations

with the most potential include the western seaboard of Europe, the

654 Source: Use and Capacity of Global Hydropower Increases

(http://www.worldwatch.org/node/9527)

655 Source: Ocean currents can power the world, say scientists

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/renewableenergy/3535012/Ocea

n-currents-can-power-the-world-say-scientists.html)

656 According to Michael Bernitsas, a professor at the University of Michigan

Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering: "...if we could

harness 0.1 percent of the energy in the ocean, we could support the

energy needs of 15 billion people." [

http://michigantoday.umich.edu/2009/01/story.php?id=7334#.UmB1B2RD

p94 ]

657 Source: Our Current Technologies

(http://voith.com/en/Voith_Ocean_Current_Technologies(1).pdf)

658 Source: Assessing the Global Wave Energy Potential

(http://www.oceanor.no/related/59149/paper_OMAW_2010_20473_final.pd

f)

659 Source: Wave farm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_farm)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

200

northern coast of the UK, and the Pacific coastlines of North and South

America, Southern Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Tidal:

Tidal has two sub-forms: range and stream. Tidal range is essentially

the “rise and fall” of areas of the ocean. Tidal streams are currents

created by periodic horizontal movement of the tides, often magnified

by the shape of the seabed.

Different locations of Earth have large differences in range.

660

In the United Kingdom, an area with high levels of tidal activity,

dozens of sites are currently noted as available, forecasting that 34%

of all the UK’s energy could come from tidal power alone.

661

Globally,

older studies have put tidal capacity at 1800TWh/yr.

662

More recent

studies have put the theoretical capacity (both range and stream) at

3TW, assuming only a portion would be extractable.

663

Tidal, while very predictable, is also subject to daily periods of

intermittency based around tidal shifts. Assuming only 1.5 TW could

be harnessed in a year based on advanced technology, this means

about 7% of the world's power could come from tidal.

Ocean Current:

Similar to tidal streams, ocean currents have shown great potential.

These currents flow consistently in the open ocean and various

emerging technologies have been developing to harness this largely

untapped medium.

As with all renewables, the capacity to harness such potential

is directly related to the efficiency of the technology employed. The

EOEA estimates the current potential at 400 THW/yr.

664

However,

there is good reason to assume this figure is outdated. Prior

applications of turbine/mill technologies to capture such water flows

have needed an average current of five or six knots to operate

efficiently, while most of the Earth's currents are slower than three

knots.

665

However, recent developments have revealed the possibility

to harness energy from water flows of less than two knots.

666

Given

660 Source: Tidal Energy (http://ei.lehigh.edu/learners/energy/tidal2.html)

661 Source: lunarenergy.co.uk

(http://www.lunarenergy.co.uk/factsFigures.htm)

662 Source: Ocean Energy: Prospects & Potential, Isaacs & Schmitt, with 15%

utilization factor & 50% capacity factor. [

http://www.crpm.org/pub/agenda/1384_nathalie_rousseau.pdf ]

663 Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation, Ottmar

Edenhofer, 2012, pp505-506

664 Source: Ocean Energy: Position Paper for IPCC

(http://ec.europa.eu/research/energy/pdf/gp/gp_events/wrec/wrec_2008_o

cean-hydro_alla_weinstein_en.pdf)

665 Source: Ocean currents can power the world, say scientists

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/renewableenergy/3535012/Ocea

n-currents-can-power-the-world-say-scientists.html)

666 Source: 'Fish Technology' Draws Renewable Energy From Slow Water

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

201

this potential, it has been suggested that ocean current alone could

power the entire world.

667

The Gulf Stream

668

potential has been estimated at 13GW of

actual output, assuming a 30% conversion efficiency using more

traditional turbine technology.

669

This means 13,000 MW or, assuming

constant harnessing of the stream all year, about 113,880,000

Mwh/yr.

670

The United States, in 2011, is estimated to have used 4.1

billion MWh in electricity.

671

This means 30%

672

of the US's electrical

consumption could be generated by the Gulf Stream alone. Once

again, this is assuming the use of only established technology.

Osmotic:

Osmotic power or salinity gradient power is the energy available from

the difference in the salt concentration between seawater and river

water. The Norwegian Center for Renewable Energy (SFFE) estimates

the global potential to be about 1,370 TWh/yr.

673

with others putting it

at around 1,700 TWh/yr

674

or the equivalent of half of Europe's entire

energy demand.

675

While still largely in its infancy, osmotic power harnessing

through advancing technology is promising. Power plants can, in

principle, be built anywhere freshwater meets seawater. They can

generate power 24/7, regardless of weather conditions.

Ocean Thermal:

The final ocean-based means for energy harnessing worth noting is

ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC). Exploiting the differences in

Currents

(http://michigantoday.umich.edu/2009/01/story.php?id=7334#.UmB1B2RD

p94)

667 Source: Ocean currents can power the world, say scientists

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/renewableenergy/3535012/Ocea

n-currents-can-power-the-world-say-scientists.html)

668 Source: Gulf Stream (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Stream)

669 Source: Theoretical Assessment of Ocean Current Energy Potential for the

Gulf Stream System

(http://www.researchgate.net/publication/256495742_Theoretical_Assessm

ent_of_Ocean_Current_Energy_Potential_for_the_Gulf_Stream_System)

670 8760 (hrs a year) x 13000 MW = 113 million 880 thousands MWhs/yr

671 Source: Energy in the United States

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_the_United_States#Consumption)

672 4.1 billion / 133.880 million

673 Source: Osmotic Power (http://www.sffe.no/?p=2446)

674 Source: First osmosis power plant goes on stream in Norway

(http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18204-first-osmosis-power-plant-

goes-on-stream-in-norway.html#.UmCJ-WRDp94)

675 Source: Osmotic Power Play: Energy Recovery Teams with GS Engineering

& Construction Corp to Develop Highly Available Renewable Energy Source

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/osmotic-power-play-energy-recovery-

teams-with-gs-engineering-construction-corp-to-develop-highly-available-

renewable-energy-source-2013-10-15?reflink=MW_news_stmp)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

202

heat existing around the surface of the ocean and below, warmer

surface water is used to heat a fluid, such as liquid ammonia,

converting it into vapor, which expands to drive a turbine which, in

turn, produces electricity. The fluid is then cooled using cold water

from the ocean depths, returning it into a liquid state so the process

can start all over again.

Of all the ocean-based energy sources, OTEC appears to have

the most potential. It has been estimated that 88,000 TWh/yr could be

generated without affecting the ocean's thermal structure.

676

While

this figure may not express total, usable capacity, it implies that well

over half of all current global energy consumption could be met with

OTEC alone. As of 2013, most of the existing OTEC plants are

experimental or very small scale. However, a few major industrial

capacity projects have been set in motion, including a 10 MW plant off

the coast of China

677

and a 100MW near Hawaii.

678

One 100MW

offshore plant can theoretically power Hawaii’s entire Big Island

alone,

679

meaning 186,000 people as of a 2011 census.

Now, in conclusion to this subsection of ocean energy

harnessing, keeping consistent with the prior categorical estimations

set forward for solar, wind and geothermal, it is worthwhile to consider

the total, combined (largely conservative) potential of each noted

medium. While this will, of course, be a crude extrapolation since there

are many complex variables, including the fact that some applications

are still semi-experimental and difficult to properly assess, this general

figure still helps to digest the broadest perspective of the potential of

ocean renewables. Here is a list of the noted global potentials:

Wave: 27,280 TWh/yr

Tidal: 13,140 Twh/yr (1.5 TW x 8760hr )

Ocean Current: 400 Twh/yr (old estimate with old tech)

Osmotic: ~1,500 TwH/yr (average of noted statistics)

Ocean Thermal: 88,000 Twh/yr

Added together we arrive at 130,320 TWh/yr or 0.46 ZJ a

year. This is roughly 83% of current global use (0.55 ZJ). It is

important to note that such numbers are derived, in part, from

traditional technologies, with no adjustment made for more recent

improvements. If we bring traditional Hydroelectric (watercourse

676 Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation, Ottmar

Edenhofer, 2012, p507

677 Source: Ocean Thermal Power Will Debut off China's Coast

(http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=ocean-thermal-power-

will-debut-off-chinas-coast)

678 Source: 100-mw OTEC project planned for West Oahu

(http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/print-edition/2012/10/05/100-mw-

otec-project-planned-for-west.html?page=all)

679 Source: Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Could Power All Of Hawaii's Big

Island (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/16/ocean-thermal-energy-

conversion-hawaii_n_3937367.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

203

based) back into the equation, which, according to the IEA has a

potential of 16,400 TWh/yr,

680

this brings the figure up to 146,720

TWh/yr or 96% of current global use.

(b) Small Scale & Total Mixed-Use Systems

The prior section described the vast potential of large-scale, base-load

renewable energy harnessing. Wind, solar, water/hydro and

geothermal have all shown that they are capable, individually, of

meeting or vastly exceeding the current 0.55 ZJ annual global energy

consumption at this time.

The true question is how are such methods to be intelligently

put into practice. Given the regional limitations coupled with other

native issues such as intermittency, the real design initiative to create

a workable combination of such means is needed. Such a systems

approach is the real solution, harmonizing an optimized fraction of

each of those renewables to achieve global, total use abundance.

For example, it is not inconceivable to imagine a series of

man-made floating islands off select coastlines which are designed to

possibly harness, at once, wind, solar, thermal difference, wave, tidal

and ocean currents – all at the same time and in the same general

area. Such energy islands would then pipe their harvest back to land

for human use. Various combinations could also be applied to land-

based systems as well, such as constructing wind/solar combinations

to compliment the fact that often wind is more present at night, while

solar is more present during the day.

Likewise, creative ingenuity with respect to how we can

intelligently combine various methods also extends to what we could

consider localized energy harnessing. Smaller scale renewable

methods that are conducive to single structures or small areas find the

same systems logic regarding combination. These localized systems

could also, if need be, connect back into the larger, base-load systems

as well, revealing a total, mixed medium integrated network.

A common example today is the use of single structure solar

panels, such as for home use. While the efficiency of these panels is

still improving, coupled with imposed cost limitations as per the

investment/profit mechanism of the market, most people utilizing

these solar power systems are only able to compliment their home's

electricity use rather than gain 100% utilization. (For example, most

systems are applied to power the home during the day, while pulling

power from the regional base-load grid at night.) This kind of approach

that seeks to maximize localized possibilities first, before resorting to

larger scale energy use, in a system approach, is the key to practical

energy abundance, efficiency and sustainability.

To understand the relevance of this more thoroughly, let's

expand the example of household solar array application to it possible

680 Source: Renewable Energy Essentials: Hydropower

(http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/Hydropower_E

ssentials.pdf)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

204

theoretical potential. In 2011, the average annual electricity

consumption for a U.S. residential utility (household) customer was

11,280 kWh.

681

Given 114,800,000 households in 2010,

682

this means

1295 TWh/yr was used. Total electrical energy consumption in 2012

for the USA was 3,886,400,000 MWh/yr.

683

This equates to 3,886

TWh/yr. This means 33% of all electric consumption occurred in

people's homes, with the vast majority of that energy coming from

fossil fuel power stations.

If all households in the United States were able to power

themselves for electricity using solar panels alone, localized energy

utilization that is simply wasted at this time, the base-load stress

reduction would be dramatic. Contrary to popular belief, as of 2013

this is a real possibility given the state of solar cell efficiency and

storage technology.

684

The problem is that the current energy industry

is not prepared for such efficiency and consumer solar systems

available suffer from high financial expense as a result of limited mass

production, competition and a lack social initiative to forward

advancement.

It worth stating here that the financial system and its price

oriented mechanisms exist as barriers to ubiquitous and optimized

household solar development in the broad view (along every other

developing technology after a certain point of proven efficacy). While

defenders of capitalism argue that the process of investment-to-

market of an in-demand good generally reduces the cost of that good

over time, making it more available to those who could not afford it

before, it is forgotten that the entire process is a contrivance.

If price and profit were removed from the system, focusing

only on the technology and its statistical merit, both at the current

time and its longer term efficiency trends (future improvements),

proper resource allocation strategies and research could be employed

to bring promising technology to the population much more rapidly. In

the case of solar arrays for home power generation, given the

681 Source: eia.gov (http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=97&t=3)

682 Source: Total Number of U.S. Households

(http://www.statisticbrain.com/u-s-household-statistics/)

683 Source: List of countries by electricity consumption

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_electricity_consumption)

684 While the current state of CPV solar efficiency, as of 2013 is 44.7% [

http://www.soitec.com/en/news/press-releases/world-record-solar-cell-

1373/ ], with consumer available products averaging only about 18% [

http://sroeco.com/solar/most-efficient-solar-panels ], more advance

methods are suggesting upwards of 80%. [

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/168811-new-nano-material-could-

boost-solar-panel-efficiency-as-high-as-80 ] Likewise, battery storage for

household use has been advancing via emerging graphene super capacitors

[ http://www.gizmag.com/graphene-based-supercapacitor/28579/ ] which

can charge faster, last many times longer than conventional batteries and

are less polluting and take up less space. Another advancing battery

technology is termed the LMB, as developed by Donald Sadoway and MIT.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

205

incredible capacity it has to alleviate base-load energy stress which

would, today, further reduce emissions and fossil fuel pollution, it is a

very unfortunate circumstance this technology and its application is

subject to the whims of the market.

685

If we survey the commercial expense of an average solar array

as of 2013, an average home using 11,280 kWh a month would

require about 30 panels, with a solar cell efficiency of about 9-15%

and a night time battery system. This would cost well over $20,000.

686

Such an expense is unaffordable for the vast majority of the world,

even though the basic materials used in traditional PV systems are

simple and abundant, along with ever-increasing manufacturing ease.

Likewise, it is equally as disappointing to notice how modern

home construction has made little to no use of other basic, localized

renewable methods that can further facilitate the real world capacity to

bring all households (not only in the USA but the in the world) to a

place of energy independence.

Noting the power of solar, other nearly universal applications

also apply. Small wind harvesting systems

687

and geothermal heating

and cooling technology,

688

combined with architectural design making

better use of natural light and heat/cool preservation efficiency,

689

there is a spectrum of design adjustments which could make

apartments and houses not only self-sufficient, but more ecologically

sustainable. Coupling this with use-reuse designs for water

preservation, along with other approaches to optimize energy/resource

efficiency, it is clear that our current methods are enormously wasteful

when compared to the possibilities.

Extending outwards to city infrastructure, we see the same

failures almost everywhere with respect to such applied systems. For

685 It is worth mentioning once again that all business establishments

perpetuate themselves mostly by the markets they have created prior. A

new invention that can interfere with the existing income infrastructure of a

given business is often subject to influences that slow or even suppress that

income interfering technology. While many see this kind of behavior as a

form of “corruption”, the truth of the matter is that the very mechanism of

bringing a given good to the market is subject to imposed financial

limitations which achieve the same goal. For example, if the new good

cannot be considered profitable during the course of its development,

regardless of its true merit, it will be hindered. The extremely slow pace of

renewable energies on the whole, even though the principle of most means

has been understood for hundreds of years, is a direct result of monetary

investment or lack thereof and the more efficient a technology, the less

profit with be realized in the long-term.

686 Source: Off-Grid System Cost Guide

(http://www.wholesalesolar.com/StartHere/OFFGRIDBallparkCost.html)

687 Example: Saving Energy in West Michigan Honeywell Wind Turbine

(http://www.freepowerwindturbines.com/honeywell_wind_turbine.html)

688 Reference: Geothermal Heat Pumps

(http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/geothermal-heat-pumps)

689 A design approach called “passive solar” is a good design example. [

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_solar_building_design ]

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

206

example, an enormous amount of energy is used in the process of

transportation. While the electric vehicle has proven viable for full

global use, even though lobbying efforts and other market limitations

have continued to keep its application well behind the gasoline

powered norm, many system-based methods also go unharnessed.

Apart from a general necessity to reorganize urban

environments to be more conducive to convenient mass transit

networks, removing the need for numerous autonomous vehicles,

simply re-harnessing the powered movements of all transport

mediums could dramatically alleviate energy pressures.

A technology called piezoelectric,

690

which is able to convert

pressure and mechanical energy into electricity, is an excellent

example of an energy reuse method with great potential. Existing

applications have included power generation by people walking on

piezo engineered floors

691

and sidewalks,

692

streets which can generate

power as automobiles cross over them

693

and train rail systems which

can also capture energy from passing train cars through pressure.

694

Aerospace engineer Haim Abramovich has stated that a stretch of road

less than a mile long, four lanes wide, and trafficked by about 1,000

vehicles per hour can create about 0.4 megawatts of power, enough to

power 600 homes.

695

Other theoretical applications extend to pretty much anything

that engages pressure or action, including minor vibrations. For

example, there are projects working to harness the seemingly small-

scale energy production; such as texting on a cellphone in a effort to

charge the phone while the phone is simply being touched or

moved;

696

697

applications to harvest energy from airflow from

690 Reference: thefreedictionary.com

(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/piezoelectric)

691 Reference: Energy-Generating Floors to Power Tokyo Subways

(http://inhabitat.com/tokyo-subway-stations-get-piezoelectric-floors/)

692 Reference: Six Sidewalks That Work While You Walk

(http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/six-sidewalks-that-work-

while-you-walk.html)

693 Reference: Israel Highway Equipped With Pilot Piezoelectric Generator

System (http://www.greenoptimistic.com/2009/10/06/israel-piezoelectric-

highway/#.UmHNTmRDp94)

694 Reference: New Piezoelectric Railways Harvest Energy From Passing Trains

(http://inhabitat.com/new-piezoelectric-railways-harvest-energy-from-

passing-trains/)

695 Reference: Under Highway Piezoelectric “Generators” Could Provide Power

to Propel Electric Cars

(http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/09/piezoelectric-generators-electric-

cars/)

696 Reference: Piezoelectric kinetic energy harvester for mobile phones

(http://www.energyharvestingjournal.com/articles/piezoelectric-kinetic-

energy-harvester-for-mobile-phones-00002142.asp?sessionid=1)

697 Reference: Cisco's Laura Ipsen: Smart grid success requires infotech,

energy tech savvy (http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/science-

scope/charge-your-phone-by-typing-on-it/8797)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

207

airplanes;

698

and even an electric car that uses piezo tech, in part, to

charge itself as it travels.

699

If we think about the enormous mechanical energy wasted by

vehicle transport modes and high traffic walking centers such as

downtown streets, the potential of that possible regenerated energy is

quite substantial. It is this type of systems thinking that is needed in

order maintain sustainability, while actively pursuing a global energy

abundance.

(4) Material Production/Access

Unlike the prior three sub-sections, which have taken only existing,

established methods into consideration with respect to humanity's

potential to achieve an abundance

700

of each given focus, this section

will necessarily be approached differently.

The problem with creating a basis for an overall material

abundance extrapolation in a similar manner, taking into account

general raw materials, is that the level of industrial revision needed to

embrace the high degree of efficiency sought, is radically different

from current traditional practices. In other words, we cannot

definitively extrapolate in the same way, using an existing, singular

process or genre technology in order to draw such a conclusion about

the level of productivity possible on the whole.

This is because the true abundance-generating efficiency mechanism is

to be found in the large- scale system orientation, taking into account

the synergy present between the sustainability laws inherent to the

natural world and the level of efficiency incorporated within the entire

societal operation.

For example, today there are over one billion automobiles in

the world.

701

From a narrow view, the idea of an “abundance” of

automobiles would perhaps imply, based on the current property

oriented framework, that every human being on the planet should then

own a private automobile. Put bluntly, this is the wrong perspective

and an outgrowth of a non-synergetic conditioning which is common to

the market system's reinforcement of property as value. From the

698 Reference: Harvesting energy from vehicle air flow using piezoelectrics

(http://www.gizmag.com/harnessing-vehicle-air-flow-energy/13414/)

699 Reference: P-Eco Electric Concept Vehicle Powered by Piezoelectricity

(http://psipunk.com/p-eco-electric-concept-vehicle-powered-by-

piezoelectricity/)

700 As will be explained more so in this section, the abundance state sought

has to do with use-time and access, not outright property. An access society

is very different from a propertied one in many profound ways, especially

when it comes to sustainability, values and human behavior itself. Food,

energy and water already assume an access state since such “items” are

perishable or part of an continuum that separates it from physical “good”

ownership as we traditionally think of it.

701 Source: Number Of Cars Worldwide Surpasses 1 Billion; Can The World

Handle This Many Wheels? (http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/08/23/car-

population_n_934291.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

208

standpoint of efficiency and sustainability it is extremely wasteful to

employ 'one automobile per person' due to the fact that a person

actually only drives, on average, only about 5% of the time.

Otherwise, the automobile sits in parking lots, driveways and the like.

In the city of Los Angeles, California about 1,977,803

automobiles are reported as in use as of 2009.

702

In abstraction, based

on this use-time average of 5%, only 98,890 automobiles would

actually be needed to meet the transport time needs of the current use

demand, assuming a sharing system. In other words, in principle, only

98,890 automobiles would be needed to meet the transport needs of

1,977,803 people.

Furthermore, for the sake of argument, with all other modes of

public transport ignored and with the entire population of Los Angeles

(3.9 million people)

703

needing to be mobile for 5% a month, only

195,000 automobiles would be needed, in abstraction, to meet the

average use time of 3.9 million people.

Likewise, in the United States in 2008, it was recorded that

236.4 million consumer vehicles were being used. With a U.S.

population of 313 million, using the 5% use statistic once again, it

would take 15.6 million automobiles to meet use demand. That is an

83% decrease in automobile output to meet the needs of all Americans

(a 32.4% increase in use or access based on total population), in

theory.

Of course, please note that it is well acknowledged here that

such an extrapolation is merely for speculation as obviously many

other complicating factors come into play in real life that would adjust

this equation greatly. The point here is to give the reader a sense of

synergy. What should be pointed out is the noted increase in

efficiency, where substantially fewer automobiles are needed to meet

the transport needs of substantially more people, due to a system-

based, synergetic reorientation (in this case, a car “sharing” system).

Again, this is not to dismiss the need for improved urban or

public transport, nor does it address the importance of an automobile's

design.

704

At the root of this issue is really the subject of

“transportation” itself, the reasons why people need such mobility, and

how the environment is designed to cater for (or bypass) such needs.

702 Source: The City of Los Angeles Transportation Profile

(http://www.gu.se/digitalAssets/1344/1344071_city-of-la-transportation-

profile.pdf)

703 Source: United States Census Bureau, 2013 (http://www.census.gov/)

704 Many other influences and outcomes can arise to the effect of increasing

efficiency in such a context. For example, with about 1.2 million deaths

occurring annually from automobile accidents, many design initiatives to

assist future safety could dramatically alter that reality. The use of sensor

rigged, driverless cars, which are now a reality, could end such deaths

immediately. Given about 50 million auto accidents worldwide each year,

the result is not only saved lives, but saved medical expenses, insurance

claims, lawsuits, data entry, resources, time, the toil of stress and grief that

result from injury or death, and a massive array of other alleviations.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

209

This is an enormous, dynamic subject to consider.

Also, let it be stated upfront that no matter what real or

assumed efficiencies may exist in real life, the goal of seeking post-

scarcity, as both a means to relieve human suffering and as a method

to adapt to truly efficient and hence sustainable practices, is without

debate as a critical point of focus for an expanding society. It could be

well argued that only a perverse society would wilfully choose to

persevere with a system that knowingly preserves scarcity for profit

and establishment preservation when it is intellectually clear that such

a condition is no longer needed and hence any such related human

suffering resulting is also no longer needed.

As argued prior, the market economy is not just a response to

a scarcity-based worldview, it is also a preserver of it. The market

structurally requires a high degree of scarcity, as an abundance

focused society would eventually mean less labor-for-income, less

turnover and less profit on the whole. If society woke up tomorrow to

a world where 50% of the human job market was automated and

where all food, energy and basic goods could be made available

without a price tag due to increased efficiency, needless to say the job

market and monetary economy as we know it would collapse.

Value Shift

In order to think properly about the state of our productive capacity to

produce life-supporting and standard of living improving goods today,

we need to first rationally separate human needs from human wants,

with the priority of meeting needs first.

While this distinction may appear like a controversial opinion to

many, in a world where now 46% of the total wealth is owned by 1%

of the population;

705

in a world where roughly 1 billion do not get basic

nutrition;

706

in a world where 1.1 billion people live without clean

drinking water and 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation;

707

in a

world where 100 million people do not have shelter;

708

in a world

where 3 billion live on less than $2.50 a day

709

and in a world where

1.2 billion do not even have electricity

710

- perhaps our priorities as a

705 Source: 46 per cent global wealth owned by richest 1 per cent: Credit

Suisse (http://profit.ndtv.com/news/economy/article-46-per-cent-global-

wealth-owned-by-richest-1-per-cent-credit-suisse-369109)

706 Source: U.N.: One billion worldwide face starvation

(http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/11/15/un.hunger/)

707 Source: Water Crisis: Towards a way to impove the situation

(http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/library/archives/water-crisis/)

708 Source: An estimated 100 million people worldwide are homeless. Source:

United Nations Commission on Human Rights, 2005.

(http://www.homelessworldcup.org/content/homelessness-statistics)

709 Source: Causes of Poverty (http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-

poverty)

710 Source: Here’s why 1.2 billion people still don’t have access to electricity

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/29/heres-

why-1-2-billion-people-still-dont-have-access-to-electricity/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

210

global civilization need to be addressed with respect to the true

maintenance of what we might questionably term “civilization”. The

truth is, this priority is not a mere poetic gesture; it is a public health

requirement.

711

The process of our physical and psychological evolution has

created human needs. Not meeting these virtually empirical needs

results in a destabilizing spectrum of physical, mental and social

disorders. Human wants, on the other hand, are cultural

manifestations that have undergone enormous, subjective change over

time, revealing something of an arbitrary nature, in truth. Now, this

isn't to say neurotic attachments can't manifest into wants, so much

so that they start to take the role of needs, emotionally. However, that

is still mostly a cultural condition.

Sadly, again, the market does not separate needs from wants

in its basic psychology, which is why scarcity arguments can be

extended infinitely in defense of its existence and hence the proposed

need to have a competitive, trade-based society, no matter the degree

of abundance that can be achieved. This has arguably created a type

of neurosis, in fact, where people assume having “infinite wants” and

“more and more” is a virtue or even a driver of human progress itself.

Of course, “infinite possibilities” are certainly a reality in many

ways, as society cannot predict what technology will materialize many

years down the line as influences change and preferences change.

However, infinite possibility is about vulnerability and creativity, while

still being strategic and intelligent about resource management and

use. This is not the same as infinite wants, which sees the human

being as insatiable and indiscriminate.

Therefore, part of this value shift will be “undoing” the

sociological damage done by the psychology inherent to market-based

living. A relatively high standard of living can be made available for all

human beings assuming, in part, a basic, responsible value shift away

from our troubling patterns of wasteful, frivolous acquisition. It is

important to restate that the materialism we endure as a society today

is a direct response to the economic need to keep money circulating as

much as possible. The role of business as we know it is either to

service people's existing wants/needs or to invent them in the hope

people will conform by showing new demand.

A new “widget” put forward by the market is only as viable as

the interest of others to purchase it and the use of advertising and

marketing has been very influential in creating a culture which sees

ownership and acquisition as a sign of social status.

712

This directly

711 Social stability is directly correlated to public health. For example, social

inequality can, as it often does, manifest as violent behavior, civil protest

and even war, just as poor sanitation and poverty stricken areas can bring

disease that could spread to areas which do have good sanitation, yet cause

infection (perhaps even an epidemic). Easing economic stress and

improving public health is a global imperative for true safety.

712 See the essay Value System Disorder.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

211

assists the need to keep high levels of consumerism in play as GDP

and employment are directly related to this pressure. Again, the less

interest there is to consume, the less economic growth and hence less

demand for jobs. This slows the existing state of a market economy

and creates a systemic loss of wellbeing for many.

It can be well-argued that a culture which has decided that

acquisition and expansion is the path of progress/success, promoting

constant consumption and seemingly infinite “economic growth”, is

going to eventually hit the limits of sustainability on a finite planet.

713

In clear terms, this trend is one of disorder.

Social success and progress can only mean, in part, finding

balance with the habitat and the other human beings who share the

habitat. Sadly, the market system's entire premise contradicts this

sustainable value, as the mechanism of economic unfolding does not

reward conservation and the reduction of consumption in a direct

sense. Put another way, the market is a scarcity-based structural

approach that paradoxically seeks increased levels of consumption to

operate “efficiently”.

So, an analysis of our material capacity to bring common

goods into a “post-scarcity” abundance to exceed the needs of all

humans on Earth cannot be discussed without also understanding

necessary, sustainability oriented revisions which will substantially

reduce our resource-use footprint at the same time.

In short, the new industrial design approach is to deliberately

increase the performance, per unit, of how we use our resources,

seeking to always move along the route of doing “more with less”.

Within this logic, as noted, a series of “pressure” alleviations toward

increased sustainability and production simplification/efficiency would

occur.

Efficiency Amplifiers

We will call these “efficiency amplifiers” and the following list presents

examples of needed structural economic and social changes which

assist this optimized efficiency.

1) The pressure for employment for income or “earning a living” is

removed.

In the market model, everyone is structurally coerced to engage some

form of trade for survival, whether it is trading labor for a wage or

creating a product to distribute for profit.

714

This overall pressure,

713 Source: Ongoing global biodiversity loss and the need to move beyond

protected areas: a review of the technical and practical shortcomings of

protected areas on land and sea (http://www.int-

res.com/articles/theme/m434p251.pdf)

714 The only two exceptions to this are either to go live outside of the

civilization itself which, due to property laws, is essentially impossible, or to

obtain enough wealth to begin with via the market or inheritance where

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

212

while often touted as an incentive mechanism for social “progress”,

actually reduces overall efficiency greatly, as it does creativity and

innovation as well. This creates a spectrum of resource and time waste

since the interest in income generation and the pressure to produce is

often absent existing demand.

The intent and need to do “something” to gain income for

survival persists regardless of our modern reality that society may not

need everyone to participate in the economic process. In a NLRBE, the

idea of everyone being required to produce or sell something is viewed

as counterproductive given the trends of ephemeralization and the

necessity of now orienting society toward sustainability.

2) Production targeting social classes is removed.

Social stratification, which is a natural consequence of market

capitalism, creates the need to produce a spectrum of qualities for a

given good genre.

715

This spectrum is not based on utility or having

variation of a good as per the personal needs/interests of individuals.

Rather, each quality standard is intended to be purchased by (or made

“affordable” to) a given income class.

This creates poor quality goods to meet affordability

requirements of lower income consumers and hence generates

unnecessary waste. In this new strategically sustainable model, no

good is created to be “cheap” by relative standards simply because it

fits lower class demographic buying patterns. In a NLRBE, there is no

lower class demographic.

3) Inefficiency inherent to the competitive practice is removed.

Competition between businesses produces four basic forms of

unnecessary inefficiency and hence resulting waste:

(a) Proprietary incompatibility of related goods components (lack of

standardization)

(b) Wasteful multiplicity of goods by competing businesses of the

same genre

(c) Incentivized good weakness to encourage turnover (planned

obsolescence)

(d) Inherent good weakness due to seeking cost efficiency (intrinsic

obsolescence)

there is no need for further trade for survival. The latter, of course, is not

open to all in a market economy of any kind.

715 All goods created assume a class relationship. The spectrum could range

from the type of extreme poor production found at a “99 Cent” store where

one could purchase a plastic watch which has little integrity, vs an extreme

luxury item which can only be afforded by the most wealthy in the world.

Thorstein Veblen inspired the term “Veblen Good” due to his observation of

prestige generated from extremely high priced goods, which transcend

utility. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/veblen-good.asp

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

213

With respect to (a), in a sustainable economy there would exist a

universal standardization of all related genre components wherever

possible. In 1801, a man named Eli Whitney was perhaps the first to

apply standardization in an impacting way. He produced muskets, and

during his time there was no way to interchange the parts of different

muskets, even though they were the same overall design. If a musket

part broke, the whole gun was useless. Whitney developed tools to do

this and after 1801, all parts were full interchangeable.

While most would assume this common sense idea to be

prolific across the global industrial community today, the perpetuation

of proprietary components by companies that want the consumer to

re-purchase any such needed component from them directly, ignoring

the possibility of compatibility with other producers, creates not only

great waste but also great inconvenience.

Similarly, with respect to (b), a wasteful multiplicity of genre goods by

competing businesses is generated at all times in the current model.

While less obvious to many, the general competitive nature of the

market keeps new ideas invisible from competitors during

development. Then, a good is produced for purchase that likely has

some overall improvement of a given feature. Once that feature is on

the market, it is then acknowledged and assessed by competing

businesses and the race to continue improvement moves forward,

back and forth.

While many argue this “creative warfare” is a driving force of

development/innovation of a given product or purpose, the negative

and unnecessary consequence is the rapid, wasteful physical

obsolescence inherent to each “cycle” of output. In other words, if a

notable cell phone feature improvement is obtained by one company,

on the heels of a major release by another company that has already

started mass production of their phone version without this upgrade,

an immediate state of obsolescence is produced, resulting in less

optimized products, which could have been avoided if the producers

had been working together, as an industrial whole, rather than hiding

progress and competing.

While it may be argued also that it is only through price and

the patterns of consumer interest that the knowing of what is in

“demand” or not can be obtained, the truth of the matter is that

communication could be made more readily between the design

mechanism and the consuming public as well.

716

This bypasses the

“price-demand” acceptance/rejection technique that is also wasteful as

well since it requires production to occur, in many cases, before the

actual demand is fully understood.

As a final point, a globally interlinked, shared data, non-

competitive oriented design/production system would also further

facilitate the ability to foreshadow component feature improvement

over time. This means industry would be able to understand what

716 This will be discussed in the essay The Industrial Government

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

214

changes are coming based on progressive trends and design more

efficiently, in anticipation of those looming changes.

Regarding (c), or what has been termed “planned obsolescence”, the

interest to see products fail or be less optimized to motivate repeat

purchases of the same basic good would no longer be incentivized. The

practice of deliberately designed obsolescence has been a hidden part

of the industrial approach since the mid-20th Century when interest in

creating economic growth was high.

717

In a NLRBE, this interest is removed as there is no market

incentive to pursue repeat purchases and therefore more optimized

efficiency, durability and sustainability strategies can be applied.

Regarding (d) or “intrinsic obsolescence” as it is termed here, all

competition for market share seeks to reduce input costs to whatever

degree possible in order to remain affordable in the marketplace and

hence persuade the consuming public to purchase one version or

“brand” of one good over another. This has been gestured in American

marketing culture as “producing the best possible goods at the lowest

possible prices.”

This inherent inefficiency of seeking to reduce costs creates, as

a systemic result, less efficient goods immediately upon production, in

the technical sense. Cutting corners in design and production for the

sake of preserving money might be considered “economically efficient”

in a market context but it is clearly economically inefficient in the real

world (physical context) as it creates unnecessary waste over time.

This is not to say that there are no limits to production optimization

given the fact that true design can only be taken on the whole, with

respect to the state of resources at any given time and associated

limitations. This is to say that the use of mere profit-oriented “cost

efficiency” to limit product quality is a wholly unscientific means for

such decision-making.

4) Property relationships that create use-isolation are removed in favor

of shared access.

As expressed in the prior example regarding automobiles and their

use-time, in a NLRBE the property system is replaced by an access

system which creates a more fluid means of shared use goods which

are not needed at all times by a single person. Common examples

would be vacation domicile use, transport, seasonal equipment, tools,

production equipment and the like.

As an aside, apart from a general overall reduction of

production per use time per person, this can assist larger forms of

efficiency as far as convenience as well. We can imagine airport or

train travel, for example, being redesigned to assist access to various

717 Reference: Ending the Depression Through Planned Obsolescence, Bernard

London, 1932

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

215

goods locally, so much so that the idea of “packing” a suitcase was no

longer needed. This seemingly minor change alone would positively

impact queuing, as well as storage in transit, luggage processing

machinery, etc. The chain of alleviation is actually quite extensive

when given detailed thought.

Clothes, communication tools, recreational items and the like

could all be made available at the destination airport or similar facility

upon arrival. While this is foreign to many as an idea, especially given

the “personalized” oriented nature of our culture, the strife reduced in

no longer having to carry large bags and the like could persuade those

modern values, given the increased ease. Either way, it comes down

to personal choice. In abstraction, a person could literally live without

needing to move property around at all, moving around the world at

will, without property-oriented inconvenience.

Again, facilitating a means of access, where things can be

shared, will allow many more to gain use of goods they otherwise

would not in the current model, along with less being produced in

proportion. A NLRBE seeks to create access abundance, not a property

abundance.

It is also important to note that property is not an empirical

concept, only access is. Property is a protectionist contrivance. Access

is the reality of the human/social condition. In order for one to truly

“own”, say, a computer, one would have had to personally come up

with technological ideas that made it work, along with the ideas that

comprise the tools of its production. This is literally impossible. There

is no such thing as empirical property in reality. There is only access

and sharing, no matter what social system is employed.

5) Design-based recycling is mandated and incentivized, maximizing

resource reuse.

Contrary to our intuition, there is no such thing as waste in the natural

world. Humanity has given very little consideration to the role of

material regeneration and how all of our design practices must account

for this.

As an aside, the highest state of this recycling will eventually

come in the form of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology will eventually

facilitate the ability to create goods from the atomic level up and

disassemble goods back into raw atoms. Of course, while this

approach appears to be on pace for the future, it is not suggested that

such nanotechnology is even needed at this time for us to be

successfully regenerative or abundant.

Today, industrial recycling is more of an afterthought than a

focus. Companies continue to do things such as blindly coat materials

with certain chemicals that actually distort the properties of that

material, making the material less salvageable by current recycling

methods. Overall, strategic recycling is a core seed of maintaining

abundance. Every landfill on Earth is just a waste of potential.

The law of conservation of mass states that for any system

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

216

closed to all transfers of matter and energy, the mass of the system

must remain constant over time, as system mass cannot change

quantity if it is not added or removed. The quantity of mass is

"conserved" over time. This natural law implies that mass can neither

be created nor destroyed. Human society's use of resources is perhaps

best thought of as a process of intelligent rearrangement, rather than

of “using” and "discarding".

6) Material use per a given production output is strategically calculated

to assure using the most conducive & abundant materials known.

As will be expressed more so in the essay “The Industrial

Government”, a new model of evaluation is created which orients

materials based on certain efficiency parameters. Two critical ones are

material “conduciveness” and a material's overall state of

“abundance”.

Conduciveness relates to how appropriate the proposed use is,

based on the material's properties. Abundance refers to how much of it

is available and hence its state of scarcity. Put together, you weigh the

value of conduciveness against the value of how accessible and low

impact the material is, as compared to other materials that may be

more or less conducive and more or less abundant. In other words, it

is a synergistic efficiency comparison that makes sure the materials

used are optimized for the purpose.

Probably the best example of this is home or domicile

construction. The common use of wood, brick, screws, and the vast

array of parts typical of a common house, is comparatively inefficient

to more modern, simplified, abundant prefabrication or molded-able

materials.

A traditional 2000 square foot home is reported to require

about 40 to 50 trees. Compare that with houses that can now be

created in prefabrication processes, like mold extrusion, with simple,

Earth-friendly polymers, concrete and other easily formable and

movable methods. Such new approaches have a very small footprint,

as compared to our destruction of global forests for wood. Home

construction today is one of the most resource intensive and wasteful

industrial mediums in the world today and it doesn't need to be that

way.

7) Design conduciveness for labor automation.

The more we conform to the current state of rapid, efficient production

processes, the more abundance we can create. Most manufacturing

approaches typically divide labor into three categories: human

assembly, mechanization and automation. Human assembly means

hand- made. Mechanization means using machines to assist the

human worker. Automation means no human interaction in the

process.

Imagine if you needed a chair and there were three designs.

The first is elaborate and complex and could only be done by hand at

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

217

that time. The second is more streamlined where its parts could be

made mostly by machines, but would need to be assembled by hand in

the end. The third is a chair that is produced by one machine process,

fully automated.

This latter chair design type would be the design goal in this

new approach. What this would do is reduce the variety of automation

machine configurations needed. Imagine, if you will, a robotic-based

processing plant that can not only produce cars, it can produce

virtually any kind of industrial machine/good comprised of the same

basic set of raw materials. This would increase output substantially.

An easy way to understand this trend of simplification is to

consider the power of digital software and how one piece of hardware

(i.e. computer) can now serve an enormous number of programmable

roles. This “dematerialization”, as it could be termed, is best

exemplified by the modern cell phone. Due to the vast program

applications now available for such “smart phones”, from medical

measurements to full musical synthesizers, the functionality of these

small, handheld computers can now take on almost countless roles.

Such roles long ago, before the digital age, would have usually

required one hardware configuration for each task. Today, any basic

operating system can run a dramatically large number of programmed

functions, all contained in a small device. This logic applies to the

nature of physical machine production as well as it is simply a matter

of time before the act of producing a vast array of goods can be

accomplished by small, modular mechanical systems, just like a digital

operating system can conduct almost countless programmed functions.

8) Serviceable problems resulting from the prior, inefficient economic

process are reduced if not eliminated.

This idea is often difficult to fully comprehend, as the chain of causality

resulting from one general inefficiency can be vast and complex. For

example, the resolution of water scarcity alone has enormous

preventative potential for disease. The amount of labor and resources

once used for treating those then resolved diseases can find other

roles. Energy abundance has the same reality since energy is the

driver of all human activity. A clean, reliable, renewable state of

absolute energy abundance would have enormous effects on the

production and abundance capacity of this future society.

Likewise, the pursuit of meeting human needs and the removal

of “labor-for-income” occupations, which often have no real technical

function, would set in motion a new educational possibility, reinforced

by an incentive to pursue personal interests and hence the freedom

not to feel pressured away from fields of interest since survival and

well-being are already taken care of by the social model itself. It is

hard to imagine the explosion of creativity possible when this pressure

is removed and society is set free to think clearly.

9) Invigorating the “group mind”, meaning human connection and the

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

218

sharing of ideas, will bring ever-accelerating progress.

Similar to the prior point, the Internet has become a powerful tool for

research and idea expansion. While “open-source” research and

development gets a fair amount of attention today, the ability to

harness the communicative power of the internet to create a global

dialogue about any given technology or idea will facilitate a type of

interactive development never before seen, once focused.

The Game Changers

The discussion of advanced technologies which can dramatically

transform the unfolding of the future and assist the pursuit of post-

scarcity have not been a focus of this essay as it becomes too easy to

simply assume the reality of the speculations. A great number of

“futurists” have done just this with mixed results and often times it

leaves the audience with looming, premature expectations, waiting

around for this or that new technology to finally progress.

However, to dismiss these potentials is equally as hasty. The

truth of the matter is that our capacity to accelerate such change

comes down to our focus. Just as the Manhattan Project was able to

bring countless scientists together for a single output goal (as violent

as it may have been to build the atom bomb), the idea of global

network projects to rapidly accelerate new technical possibilities is

merely a matter of choice. We can only imagine the progress of any

given project if enough minds came together to pursue it at once, in

an organized way. This “open-source” world approach alone will likely

have limitless possibilities.

Likewise, there is no shortage of transformational or

“disruptive” technologies on the horizon that could radically alter the

industrial landscape. Artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, 3D

printing, infinite computing and nanotechnology are just a few. Each of

these developing mediums has vast implications for efficiency

increases. It is very difficult to know exactly how they will unfold or,

more importantly, how they will find synergy, but we do know the

trends of development are increasing exponentially in most cases.

For example, a fusion of 3D printing, nanotechnology, AI and

robotics will forever alter the state of manufacturing, so much so that

a person could perhaps have a garage size manufacturing system in

their home to produce virtually anything they may need. Again, while

such futuristic and seemingly “science-fiction” speculations are

unneeded to justify our modern, tangible capacity to create

abundance, these new and emerging mediums should not be

overlooked as they are set to have a great impact, if embraced

properly.

718

718 With respect to such materials, emerging nanotechnology, such as carbon

nanotubes (CNT), which can be arranged to create what has been termed

“Buckypaper”, is an example of tremendous potential. “Buckypaper” is a

macroscopic aggregate of carbon nanotubes that owes its name to R.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

219

In the 19

th

century, aluminum was more valuable than gold,

even though it is technically one of the most abundant elements in the

world. However, before the discovery of electrolysis, it was extremely

difficult to extract. Once this technical process was discovered, almost

overnight the scarcity of the material plummeted. Today, we tend to

use aluminum with a throwaway mindset. Such dramatic historical

changes are important to keep in mind as the same kind of

advancement is occurring across many disciplines, often hidden from

most people's comprehension and far beyond their expectations.

Likewise, the aforementioned technologies are on pace to dramatically

change the world.

Raw Resource Assessment

As noted, assessing the state of natural resources to gauge the degree

of total/maximum use capacity as per the human population cannot be

done by simply extrapolating around current methods. We need to get

both a general sense of current inventory levels of all relevant Earthly,

resources and then digest them with respect to the aforementioned

efficiency amplifiers which, in effect, radically change the way

industrial practice and consumption unfolds. It is also worth noting

that modern science has brought a great deal of synthesis into play

and the use of polymers, meta-materials and other rapid

advancements in chemistry, physics and engineering are accelerating.

The end result is that many resources considered problematic, such

as rare Earth metals, are finding replacements via highly abundant

means.

It is important to point out that most perspectives on current

resource use trends are quite negative by those thinking within the

context of the current model.

719

There is no shortage of negative

reports and rightly so. We have been abusing and misusing our

resources to a vast degree, locked into a life-blind paradigm which has

little structural comprehension of its consequences.

720

However, again,

this is actually a mismanagement problem, not a quantitative or

empirical one.

It is also important to note that it is not how much or how little

Buckminster Fuller. Paper-thin and lightweight, it is one- tenth the weight

yet potentially 500 times stronger than steel when its sheets are stacked to

form a composite. It can also conduct electricity like copper or silicon. This

synthetic material, made out of abundant carbon, could be at the foundation

of a new, scarcity transcending synthetic materials revolution.

719 Reference: Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up'

(http://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/mar/30/environment.research)

720 In a 2011 study entitled “Ongoing global biodiversity loss and the need to

move beyond protected areas: a review of the technical and practical

shortcomings of protected areas on land and sea” the following conclusion

was made: “In a business-as-usual scenario, our demands on planet Earth

could mount to the productivity of 27 planets by 2050.” There is no

shortage of other negative resource “overshoot” statistics in peer review as

well.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

220

there is of any one thing in absolute terms. Rather, the qualifier has to

do with how we are to achieve the purpose sought. For instance, the

available amount of oil in the Earth, as would be needed for its non-

energy uses today (since in this model it isn't needed for energy, as

noted), is only as relevant as our incapacity/capacity to find other

ways to achieve the same goals oil has achieved, but without it.

Another example is lumber. If home construction completely

transcended the use of wood frame houses, globally, using Earth-

friendly concrete and polymer processes instead, coming from

ubiquitous and abundant raw materials, suddenly a once potentially

scarce resource becomes exceptionally abundant, relatively speaking.

Moving on, natural resources are best organized initially by

dividing them into (a) biotic and (b) abiotic. Biotic resources are

derived from the biosphere and are often called “living resources”.

721

Examples of biotic resources are forests, plants, animals, etc. By some

definitions, it also includes resources originating from life in the distant

past, such as fossil fuels. Abiotic resources are often considered “non-

living” resources and include water, soil, minerals and the like.

(a) Overall, the biotic resources of the planet have been suffering

greatly due to ever-increasing industrialization. Forest depletion, the

loss of biodiversity, loss of fish populations and other issues have

brought the sustainability of many such resources into question. In all

cases, the problem is not a limited supply of these resources; it is a

blatant disregard for any equilibrium with natural regeneration and

basic environmental respect. The solution to these declines is to

obviously deviate from their rates of use. This can be done by simply

substituting other comparable materials for those being harvested at

unsustainable rates.

In the essays True Economic Factors and The Industrial

Government, this process is described in detail. In short, there is no

biotic resource being used today which cannot have its rate of

consumption subsided by conscious, strategic adjustment. Wood does

not need to be used today for all the current purposes. Not everyone

needs to eat fish from the wild ocean as advanced and humane aqua-

farming processes now exist. We have already discussed the ability to

produce a vegetarian abundance with vertical farming and the move to

in-vitro meat can be more healthy and sustainable than livestock

methods that are damaging the environment.

With such alleviations, we would see a vast improvement in

overall resources, biodiversity, the preservation of life-saving medicine

derived from the rainforests and so forth. The other, largely untapped

renewables mentioned prior, can also rapidly displace fossil fuels for

energy use today. So, the issue is really a matter of intelligent choice.

(b) Abiotic resources have a different, yet similar management reality.

721 Source: biology-online.org (http://www.biology-

online.org/dictionary/Biotic_resource)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

221

We have already addressed our technical ability to circumvent or solve

the problem of water scarcity with purification methods and our rapidly

depleting topsoil

722

with soilless farming. Overall, the main resources

we are left with are the valuable minerals we utilized to build many of

the goods we use. These minerals are mostly compounds of Earthly

elements and are extracted from rocks from the Earth's crust. Much

progress in use-versatility has also been achieved by industry by

extracting elements and forming metal alloys. An alloy is a metal

mixture made by combining two or more metallic elements, such as

the formation of steel.

There are close to 5,000 known minerals

723

and the number of

alloys possible is enormous, with many thousands in use today. As far

as analysis, the British Geological Survey (BGS) outputs a statistical

assessment of world minerals/elements/chemical compounds each

year regarding global extraction/production use.

724

73 are documented

in their 2007-2011 report and hence these can be considered the most

utilized for global industrial production.

725

Of those, the BGS in turn

updates a “risk list” of such materials based on stressed or anticipated

stressed supply.

The following chart expresses the medium risk to very high-risk

elements, as per their analysis.

722 Source: The lowdown on topsoil: It's disappearing

(http://www.seattlepi.com/national/article/The-lowdown-on-topsoil-It-s-

disappearing-1262214.php)

723 Source: Mineral (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral)

724 Source: World mineral statistics

(http://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/statistics/worldStatistics.html)

725 Source: World Mineral Production 2007-2011

(http://www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/start.cfm?id=2701)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

222

Reproduced from the British Geological Survey's Risk List 2011

726

The BGS states “The...list provides a quick and simple

indication of the relative risk in 2012 to the supply of...elements or

element groups that we need to maintain our economy and lifestyle.

The position of an element on this list is determined by a number of

factors that might affect availability. These include the natural

abundance of elements in the Earth’s crust, the location of current

production and reserves, and the political stability of those

locations...recycling rates and substitutability of the elements has been

726 Source: Risk list 2012: An updated supply risk index for chemical elements

or element groups which are of economic value

(http://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/statistics/risklist.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

223

considered in the analysis.”

727

The qualifier of political stability/governance is actually not

relevant, empirically. This is a cultural problem. It should be stated

upfront that a NLRBE is achieved by global cooperation and the

common war patterns, the “resource curse” and disruptions in the

supply chain by such contrived, self-preserving pressures common of

world powers would no longer be a problem.

Overall, the BGS rightfully concludes that substitutability and

recycling are the solutions and the scarcest resources essentially suffer

from a lack of recycling and a lack of adequate substitutions being

made. Rather than address each material noted, the first one listed,

rare Earth metals, will be used as the example by which problem

resolution can be considered with all the others.

There are seventeen rare earth metals that are considered the

most scare of all elements.

Recycling:

The first great failure is that only one percent of all rare Earth minerals

are recycled today, according to some estimates.

728

Given their

common use in electronics, electronic waste recycling has also been

dismal. Based on EPA statistics in the US, in 2009 only 25% of

consumer electronics were collected for recycling.

729

Likewise, the

goods created that hold most of these valuable materials are also not

even intended to be recycled for the most part.

730

According to an organization called SecondWave Recycling,

“for every one million cell phones recycled, we can recover 75 pounds

of gold, 772 pounds of silver, and 33,274 pounds of copper...If the

United States recycled the 13 million cell phones that are thrown away

annually, we could save enough energy to power more than 24,000

homes for a year.”

731

Substitutions:

Perhaps more importantly, it is now possible to manufacture synthetic

versions of these metals in the context of their properties out of very

common, abundant materials, in a lab.

732

733

Nanotechnology is

727 Ibid.

728 Source: Rare Earth Recycling (http://www.molycorp.com/technology/rare-

earth-recycling/)

729 Source: Statistics on the Management of Used and End-of-Life Electronics

(http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/manage.htm)

730 Source: Dirty, dangerous and destructive – the elements of a technology

boom (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/sep/26/rare-

earth-metals-technology-boom)

731 Source: Why Recycle Cell Phones? Why not just throw it away?

(http://secondwaverecycling.com/why-recycle-cell-phones-why-not-just-

throw-it-away/)

732 Source: Nanosys: We Can Replace Some Rare Earth Metals

(http://www.fastcompany.com/1705030/nanosys-we-can-replace-some-

rare-earth-metals)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

224

proving to be very strong in this approach.

734

Many different industries

have been actively working to address the issue in each application,

such as now being able to make LED light bulbs without these

metals.

735

Overall we see the push to solve this problem ramping up

and the fact is, resolution is simply a matter of ingenuity, focus and

time.

736

Industrial reorientation is also important to add to this problem

solving equation as a larger tier form of substitutability. While this may

not currently apply to rare Earth metals as much at this time, larger

scale components in various technologies are changing rapidly. It is a

design initiative in engineering to actively focus on component

innovation that can bypass such needs. However, given the rate of

change for rare Earth metal substitution through synthesis, it appears

to be simply a matter of time before this issue is resolved through a

combination of strategic use, recycling and synthesis.

Beyond that, it cannot be reiterated enough that the great

failure of global industry has been not to make proper purpose

comparisons when it chooses to use a certain material. In other words,

it is not intelligent to use a very rare metal in a generally arbitrary and

fleeting product. Since there is no referential database that shows

active rates of use, decline and the like, companies make their

decisions based merely on cost relationships which have very little

value in the sense of strategic use by comparison. While it is true that

price can reflect scarcity and difficulty of acquiring a certain mineral or

element, such a dire reality arises only as the problem acutely

materializes. In other words, no real foresight exists in price and by

the time price reflects what was actually an observable technical

reality at any time, it is often too late and the scarcity becomes a real

problem.

In an actively aware resource management system, this would

not occur. Not only would such materials be constantly compared to

draw assessment as to what is the most appropriate material for a

given use, any foreshadowed problem can be seen from a long period

away and hence efficiency can be better maximized.

737

Land

Unlike prior assessments, the issue of land access takes a different

733 Source: Thin Film Solar Cells Using Earth-Abundant Materials

(http://www.intechopen.com/download/get/type/pdfs/id/39155)

734 Source: New Nano Material Could Replace Rare Earth Minerals In Solar

Cells and OLEDs (http://inhabitat.com/new-nano-material-could-replace-

rare-earth-minerals-in-solar-cells-and-oleds/)

735 Source: New material could lead to cheaper, more eco-friendly LEDs

(http://www.gizmag.com/silicon-led-rare-earth-element-

alternative/27933/)

736 Source: Rare-earth mineral substitutes could defeat Chinese stranglehold

(http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-07/31/race-for-rare-earth-

minerals)

737 This is expanded upon in the essay The Industrial Government.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

225

consideration. Earth has a finite amount of inhabitable land and hence

the method by which humans gain access to and share land over time

is the real issue. Needless to say, not every human being can have his

or her own private Earth. Likewise, the sickness bred by materialism,

wealth and status, which manifests vast and enormous estates by the

super rich, fall in the same irrational category – utterly oblivious to

sustainability and social balance.

Today, the property system creates a static orientation to land

access, with people typically acquiring land and staying on it

indefinitely. This tendency to “settle” seems compounded by the labor

roles and location requirements of most in the world as well. The

tradition of commuting to one's job in a city center is still very

common and hence one's home needs to be nearby. In a NLRBE, such

pressures are greatly alleviated and the idea of traveling the world

constantly is a tangible option.

Analysts have found that if we needed to fit the world's 7

billion people into a single city, modeled after New York City, all

Earthly inhabitants would fit in the US state of Texas.

738

While clearly

impractical, this simple statistic reveals the vast degree of variance

possible regarding how human beings can organize themselves

topographically in a global society. The problem isn't the amount of

physical space needed for 7 billion or many times more. The problem

is intelligent organization, design and education.

That noted, the method of access for a NLRBE is to create an

interactive sharing system. The foundation of this idea will be

expanded upon greatly in the essay “The Industrial Government”. In

short, people are able to travel from destination to destination,

enjoying a given location for a period, before likely moving on. Such

systems already exist in the current system, where a network of

people and domiciles is available for sharing.

739

Of course, many used to a “home” oriented frame of mind,

which has a traditional romanticism, should not be fearful of losing

such emotional security. There is no reason why a “permanent”

location for a person or family cannot exist, as we find in the world

today. In fact, in a society predicated on access abundance, finding

and living in a permanent abode would likely be far easier than in a

property ownership society.

Yet, statistics prove that today people very much enjoy moving

around, exploring and enjoying new places. If it weren't for their labor-

for-income job and monetary limitations, it is clear a great deal more

traveling would occur by the vast majority. Once such an access

system is set in motion, the network of available places to stay and

visit would open up and close down in a natural flow, just as hotels

work. When a hotel is booked and full for a given day, naturally others

738 Source: If the world’s population lived in one city…

(http://persquaremile.com/2011/01/18/if-the-worlds-population-lived-in-

one-city/)

739 Reference: airbnb.com (https://www.airbnb.com/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

226

seeking to visit that region look elsewhere. As demand ebbs and flows,

feedback is used to produce new structures and the like, no different,

again, than how it is done today in the vacation market.

The educational and value imperative is the idea of sharing the

world. Many today would consider this to be grossly idealized. The idea

of freely moving about the planet, staying virtually anywhere, with no

obligation to feel the need to return to any central place, seems like a

fantasy. Yet, it is very possible. Also, since remote communication is

exponentially increasing, engaging in any social/community task or

creative interest can occur virtually anywhere as well.

Again, this is a value choice. If a person wishes to keep his

family in one place for the rest of their lives, there is more than

enough space on the planet (given the Texas statistics noted) to

provide for both possibilities, assuming an intelligent revision of city

layouts, responsible conservation and an earnest interest to be

efficient. Either way, the same access system can be employed to find

and settle a certain location, whether it is temporary or permanent.

Oil

In conclusion to this essay, issues surrounding modern society's

addiction to the use of oil are important to address. Oil is likely the

most industrial resource utilized on the planet today, used most

notably for transport. As described prior, between battery technology,

improved design and the vast renewable mediums we have today,

there is no legitimate technical reason we need gasoline to power

automobiles anymore. The handful of currently available electric cars

today is also a clear testament to this fact. Airplanes and other

extremely large powered machines might still need such oil force

currently but the trends show it is simply a matter of time and focus

before planes are able to use solar energy

740

coupled with advanced

storage means for large scale, heavy weight commercial needs.

Yet, we should always try to think outside of the box when it

comes to efficiency and sustainability. In the context of this large-

scale, high-energy transport, the question arises: “is there a

replacement for plane travel which bypasses such high concentration

energy needs?” The answer is yes. Maglev technology is many times

faster and uses a fraction of the energy.

741

So, even if some oil was used for power purposes here and

there, such new approaches could reduce its use footprint

exponentially, if pursued correctly. In America alone, 70% of the oil

used in total goes towards transport in the form of gasoline, diesel and

jet fuel.

742

Likewise, if a new condition of peace can be negotiated on

740 Reference: Solar-Powered Airplane Completes First Leg Of U.S. Flight

(http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/05/05/181407952/solar-

powered-airplane-completes-first-leg-of-u-s-flight)

741 Reference: New York to Beijing in two hours without leaving the ground?

(http://www.gizmag.com/et3-vacuum-maglev-train/21833/)

742 Reference: Petroleum (http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/energy-

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

227

planet Earth, with a concentrated pressure to reduce armaments and

preparations for war, an extensive oil savings would also occur.

The United States Department of Defense is one of the largest

single consumers of energy in the world, responsible for 93% of all US

government fuel consumption in 2007.

743

The US military uses more

energy than most countries. The military is also one of the greatest

polluters in the world.

744

So, working to shut down all military

establishments would facilitate a vast increase in this resource's

abundance.

Yet, as noted, oil is still polluting in multiple ways so using it as

we have for combustion is not environmentally intelligent. The real

solution is social revision. While the edifice of human society today has

a vast dependence on oil and gas in general, generating all sorts of

products from plastics and fertilizers, creative engineers have been

slowly challenging this core chemical foundation need for many years.

Plastics, which are ubiquitous in the world today, have been

almost exclusively in the territory of petroleum for some time.

However, recently Dutch scientists have invented means to replace oil-

based plastics by using plant matter.

745

746

Likewise, an organization

called Evocative has been able to use mushrooms to generate fully

sustainable materials which can also serve to replace many petroleum

uses for insulation and the like.

747

Overall, a great deal of scientific work is going into substitutes

for petroleum and most are plant oils and fats because they have

essentially the same base chemical structure as petroleum. So, the

real issue again is focus. Today, commercially available, non-

petroleum based plastic bottles (“bioplastic”) are becoming much more

common

748

so it is clear that the real solution to evolving out of our

material petroleum dependence is an issue of intention by the scientific

community.

Agriculture is another concern. Fertilizers and pesticides

require oil and natural gas and it is well argued that modern

overview/petroleum-oil/)

743 Source: Colonel Gregory J. Lengyel, USAF, The Brookings Institution,

Department of Defense Energy Strategy, August 2007.

744 Reference: The Elephant in the Room: The U.S. Military is One of the

World’s Largest Sources of C02

(http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/12/removing-war-from-global-

warming.html)

745 Source: Who Needs Oil When Scientists Can Make Plastic From Plants?

(http://gizmodo.com/5885953/who-needs-oil-when-scientists-can-make-

plastic-from-plants)

746 Source: Supported Iron Nanoparticles as Catalysts for Sustainable

Production of Lower Olefins

(http://www.sciencemag.org/content/335/6070/835.abstract)

747 Source: Mushroom Materials (http://www.ecovativedesign.com/mushroom-

materials/)

748 Reference: Coke, Ford join forces to juice supply of plant-based plastic

(http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2012/06/14/coca-cola-nike-ford-join-

forces-juice-supply-plant-based-plastic)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

228

civilization, given its rate of food consumption and growth, based on

current methods, would not be able to function without these base

means. This is likely true. However, that is partly why the prior vertical

farming section is so important. Rather than seek to replace these

mediums, within the context of traditional agricultural, the solution is

to bypass the problem with the new methods.

Overall, if you think of anything oil and hydrocarbons do today,

you can either find an establishment-preserving replacement for it (i.e.

the plant oil-based plastics which work in most existing industrial

contexts) or a completely new approach based on revised methods

which bypass the problem altogether (i.e. vertical farming and its little

need for such fertilizer). Not to mention, if we remove oil and gas

simply from the main combustion purposes, you then free up so much

of it that, apart from environmental concerns, the resource becomes

that much more abundant, giving even more time to find further

solutions to eliminate any and all environmentally unsustainable

realities.

TechnoCapitalist Apologetics

At the root of the increased capacity for abundance, as noted prior, is

ephemeralization or doing “more with less”. Moore's Law, which is the

phenomenon that computer power or chip performance essentially

doubles every 18 months, has been found in the modern day to also

include any kind of information-based technology.

749

For example, the

application of labor automation, which is a combination of robotics and

programming, both of which are defined by information in origin,

reveals how the means of production itself is becoming an information

technology and hence subject to exponential growth as well.

In financial terms, the result of this pattern has been cheaper

price values as the efficiency inherent reduces costs to whatever

degree allowed. This can be seen in the sharp rise in inexpensive and

now ubiquitous technologies, such as cell phones. In absolute

abstraction, with all things being equal, assuming society maintained

only its current spectrum of use goods, many production trends have

the capacity to approach “near zero” value. Given this, the question

arises: at what state of such exchange value reduction (price) does

value itself become so miniscule as to become moot in and of itself, as

an economic factor? Can we expect that potential to occur to such an

anticipated high degree in the market system?

The answer is no. The market will never create such large

scale, dramatic, post-scarcity implying reductions overall due to its

central need for scarcity to keep monetary turnover and hence keep

people employed. It is worth noting that many in the modern

technology movements still justify the existence of market capitalism,

as a means towards “abundance”, by observing this general cost

reduction phenomenon. As the argument goes, the unfolding of a

749 Reference: Big Idea: Technology Grows Exponentially

(http://bigthink.com/think-tank/big-idea-technology-grows-exponentially)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

229

given production and its increased demand facilitates “better”

production methods and hence more savings by the company means

more savings by the consumer. This then makes some goods

available, over time, to those who would not have been able to afford

them prior. If taken at face value, this observation suggests all goods

will approach zero in value overtime, as a given market increases in

demand.

The first problem, however, is that this argument simply

ignores the vast array of general technical inefficiency which can also,

if addressed and solved, create those same reduced costs. In other

words, it conflates, erroneously, “market efficiency” and “technical

efficiency”. Globalization is a common example. While cheap,

primitive, Third World labor might be helpful to bring the cost down of

a given product for the American consumer market, the wasted

energy, wasted resources and possibly inhumane conditions

created/exploited to facilitate that “price advantage” really present

deep and caustic inefficiencies, in the broad view.

As an aside, while it is indeed true that certain types of

technology, usually computer related, are today widely available for

many who otherwise would not be able to afford it, this is a result of

scientific ingenuity, not the market. Many traditional economists today

make the assertion constantly, that “if it weren't for capitalism...”, etc.

The truth is that the market is nothing more than an incentive and

delivery system and while the profit motivation may, at times,

incorporate high levels of technical advancement which achieve a

higher output potential, invigorating this “more with less”

phenomenon, this is but one possible outcome amongst many. Many

other highly profitable means can be utilized which have zero to

negative value in the pursuit of post-scarcity itself.

Perhaps the best way to think about it is as a self-limiting

threshold. The profit goal of cost efficiency is to remain “competitive”

against other producers, while naturally seeking maximum income to

keep employees paid and the structure of the company intact. That is

the incentive equation. Obviously, no company wants to make itself

obsolete by pursuing a state of extreme efficiency.

Likewise, profit culture is shortsighted by nature. This means

that when faced with a decision for cost efficiency, the easiest and

most immediate path to realize this change will likely be pursued. That

can, again, mean the difference between updating a technical

operation to be more efficient in its process of actual production - or

simply outsourcing to a developing country which can be paid so little

due to existing poverty - if it looks best on paper as far as cost

savings. The market sees no difference between the two. Decisions are

based merely on the trade value and the end tends to justify the

means.

So, as time progresses, the market process may, indeed,

continue to make certain high demand goods more accessible to those

who couldn't afford them prior. However, that is not evidence that the

fruits of a true, post-scarcity oriented society can be obtained on the

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

230

whole in the same framework. It will only be through a direct revision

of society to accept the post-scarcity intent, removing the interest to

preserve scarcity, which is common today, that true progress in

abundance will be realized. This conclusion is also avoiding the vast

array of other large-scale efficiency problems inherent to market

capitalism with respect to cultural and environmental sustainability,

which have been discussed at length in other essays.

As a final note, the debate over “technological unemployment”

has proven to be a powerful revelation in this clash of perceived

intentions as well. Capitalist apologists have been hiding behind the

idea that while technology does replace human labor, it is also creating

it. While this may have been true in the slower moving past, a highly

skewed reality has become ever more apparent.750

For one, the exponential increases occurring today have

proven to be outpacing human educational adaptation greatly. There is

no 1:1 job loss to job creation process unfolding in the modern world.

Job losses today and job loss possibilities for the future are enormous

when the machine applications are reviewed objectively, given the

exponential trends. The interesting thing is that this very process of

automation is a huge part of creating abundance, even though

companies, in the logic of seeking profit, are using it to save money.

The result is a complex dichotomy, with fewer human workers and

hence less money available as purchasing power.

Of all the symptoms of failure of the capitalist model, this

technological unemployment phenomenon just might be the most

profound as it really reveals a clash of system functions. Capitalism

presupposes that human labor demand will be near constant and all

encompassing. Yet, if it is cheaper to employ machines to do human

roles, how do we get “spending money” to humans who have now

been removed from the labor force due to those very machines? How

can the machines continue to produce without the “fuel” of monetary

circulation?

In the end, the reduced value argument within the capitalist

context simply doesn't work as it assumes a direct balance adjustment

between cost reduced price value (saving of money due to

mechanization to lower final good price) to meet the ever decreasing

purchasing power of the now poorly employed consumers (those jobs

removed due to mechanization).

The only way this could work is if the profit motive itself was

removed, which is essentially impossible if we are to still think within

the context of a market economy. The only reason companies employ

technology to replace human labor to begin with is to save money and

increase their competitive place in the overall economy by some

degree. This intention undermines any kind of distribution balance

between buying power and cost-savings.

750 Reference: Coming to an office near you

(http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21594298-effect-todays-

technology-tomorrows-jobs-will-be-immenseand-no-country-ready)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

231

-TRUE ECONOMIC FACTORS-

The world has changed far more in the past 100 years than in any other

century in history. The reason is not political or economic but technological -

technologies that flowed directly from advances in basic science.

751

-Stephen Hawking

Overview

In Greek, economy means the management of a household.

752

The

defining qualitative attribute of an economy is its level of “efficiency”.

As opposed to the practice of “market efficiency” common today, this

form of efficiency relates to physical systems – not the inter-workings

of “money”, the “market” and other arguably cultural contrivances.

753

In this process of physical evaluation, we inevitably end up

with a set of interrelated components appropriately called economic

factors. Again, these components, unlike the vast financial theories in

play in the modern world today, have nothing to do with the act of

commerce or the like. Rather, they factor in the actual technical

processes, hence trends, potentials and measurement requirements,

needed for optimized system organization of industrial extraction,

production, distribution, design, recycling protocols and the like.

However, for the sake of comprehension, even though this

manner of economic thought is a vast departure from the traditional

monetary-based economic theories we endure today, this essay will

still frame these resource-based economic components in the context

of traditional “microeconomic” and “macroeconomic” categorical

distinctions, as would be found in common textbooks with respect to

monetary economics.

The macroeconomic components have to do with the largest

possible physical system degree associations we can comprehend.

The microeconomic components relate to specific industries or sectors,

usually associated with singular good production, regional distribution

and regenerative specifics. (This will be expanded upon more so later

in this essay.) By system extension, macroeconomic components

naturally govern the logic related to the microeconomic components as

well. For example, the macroeconomic attribute of global resource

management has a universal bearing on the proper unfolding of

microeconomic operations such as product design efficiency (which

invariably use such global resources).

However, before these component factors are addressed, a

further discussion of systems is in order, along with a declaration of

what our societal goals actually are.

751 Steven Hawking, A Brief History of Relativity, Time Magazine, December

31

st

, 1999

752 The term 'economy' in Greek [Oikonomia] means the "management of a

household; thrift” - hence to e·con·o·mize, or “increase efficiency”.

753 See the essay Market Efficiency vs. Technical Efficiency.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

232

General Systems Theory

General Systems Theory is an idea likely made most famous by

biologist Ludwig Von Bertalanffy. He stated: “...there exist models,

principles, and laws that apply to generalized systems or their

subclasses, irrespective of their particular kind, the nature of their

component elements, and the relationships or "forces" between them.

It seems legitimate to ask for a theory, not of systems of a more or

less special kind, but of universal principles applying to systems in

general.”

754

While systems theorists throughout the years have put a

great deal of intellectual complexity and elaboration forward, the basic

recognition is rather simple and intuitively easy to grasp.

The human body, for example, is composed of various system

interconnections which not only natively regulate specific processes for

a given purpose (such as the heart and its role in blood circulation),

these systems always have smaller and larger degree relationships as

well. In the case of the heart, the blood it circulates has its own set of

defined chemical properties and system behaviors (smaller degree

system relationship) while the heart itself is also a component part of

the total human organ array (larger degree system relationship) and

hence connects with, for example, the lungs which assist in oxygen

distribution throughout the blood stream.

Extending this example to larger degree relationships, this

human system is connected to an ecological system,

755

which

invariably has a direct correlation to human health. For instance, poor

industrial methods existing within this ecological system can introduce,

for example, pollution into the air, causing conditions that might set

the stage for lung problems or other detriments to human health.

Of course, system relationships to human health are not only

“physical” in the traditional sense of the term, they are also

psychologically and sociologically causal. Science has come to better

understand how human learning and behavioral propensities are

generated through both genetic and environmental influences,

invariably engaging a larger systems context. For example, as noted in

prior essays, addiction problems, such as with drugs or alcohol, can

often be found linked to early life stress and emotional loss.

756

In

truth, the very basis for understanding public health is of a systems

recognition, without exception.

Now, binding all systems are what could be termed

“generalized governing principles”. In scientific terms, a “generalized”

principle or theory is a foundational characteristic or assumption that

754 Ludwig Von Bertalanffy, General System theory: Foundations,

Development, Applications, New York: George Braziller, 1976, p.32

755 Ecology is defined as: the branch of biology dealing with the relations and

interactions between organisms and their environment, including other

organisms. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ecology)

756 Dr. Gabor Maté in his work In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts (North Atlantic

Books, 2012) presents an enormous amount of research regarding how

'emotional loss' occurring at young ages affects behavior in later life,

specifically the propensity for addictions.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

233

governs an entire system. A notable, ongoing quest of modern science

has been the search for universally governing principles that apply to

all known systems in the universe, as gestured in the prior quotation

by Ludwig Von Bertalanffy.

While a great deal of theoretical debate exists with respect to

the complex behavior of certain systems, (finding clashes of

perspective between, for example, “classical mechanics” and “quantum

mechanics”) the understandings relevant to efficient economic

organization - a system design intended to optimize human well-being

and long term ecological/social sustainability - need not get lost in

such abstraction. Thus, the economic relationships presented in this

essay are fairly obvious and easy to validate.

However, let it be stated that when the systems worldview is

truly understood in its profound ramification of immutable

interconnectedness and hence interdependence/co-responsibility of

literally everything in the known universe, traditional cultural notions

based on human or social division - such as religious loyalty, race

loyalty, class, nation states, patriotism and other manifestations born

from a world arguably ignorant of this reality in the past – can create

nothing but confusion, maladjustment and conflict in the long-term.

Realizing and striving to think in the context of interconnected

systems is critical for intellectual development, hence creating an

educational imperative for people to also learn more as “generalists”

as opposed to rigid “specialists”, which is the current pattern due to

the structure of our traditional labor roles. Sadly, our educational

system today has been shaped and structured not to create well-

rounded understandings of the world, but rather directs focus to

isolated and narrow specialties, which reduce systems comprehension

consequently.

757

So, returning to the specific context of the creation of an

economic model, this system relevance inherently creates an

essentially “self-generating” causality that reduces subjectivity greatly.

When we relate current understandings of the human system to the

ecological system, we find a process of objective calculation with

respect to what is possible and sustainable, both in the general

structure of industrial processes and the value structure of society

itself.

In the end, once this reality is understood, knowing that we

may never have an absolute understanding of the total, universal

governing system, our task is hence to derive an economic model that

best superimposes upon such known properties and relationships of

the physical world, adapting and adjusting as efficiently as possible, as

new feedback (information) continues to prove valid. Put another way,

the creation of an economic model is really a process of structural

757 Reference: “Education and the Market Model”, John McMurtry, Journal of

Philosophy of Education Volume 25, Issue 2, pps 209–217, 1991 Online:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-

9752.1991.tb00642.x/abstract

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

234

alignment with the existing ecological system already in play on the

planet earth. The degree to which we are able to achieve this, defines

our success.

Social Goals

While diverse global cultures today show many unique features and

interests, there is still a basic, virtually universal set of shared needs

which revolve around survival. In concert, this essentially comprises

the basis of “public health”, in its broadest definition.

Below is a list of general, seemingly obvious social “goals”

which this new economic model would work to meet, with detailed

explanations following. Overall, they are component goals of the

pursuit to increase quality of life for the whole of humanity, while

maintaining true sustainability in the long run.

Goals:

(1) Optimized Industrial Efficiency; Active Pursuit of “Post-Scarcity

Abundance”.

(2) Maintain Optimized Ecological/Cultural Balance & Sustainability.

(3) Deliberate Liberation of Humanity from Monotonous/Dangerous

Labor.

(4) Facilitate Active System Adaptation to Emerging Variables.

(1) Optimized Industrial Efficiency; Active Pursuit of “Post-

Scarcity Abundance”:

Unlike the current, structural economic mandate to preserve

inefficiency for the sake of monetary circulation, economic growth and

power preservation,

758

this goal seeks to optimize, both technically and

structurally, all industrial processes to work towards and create what

could be gesturally termed a post-scarcity abundance.

In short, a post-scarcity abundance is an idealized state that

eliminates scarcity of a given resource or process, usually by means of

optimized efficiency regarding production design and strategic use.

Needless to say, the idea of achieving universal post-scarcity -

meaning an abundant amount of everything for everyone - is rightfully

an impossibility, even in the most optimistic views. Therefore, this

term, as used here, really highlights a point of focus.

759

Common examples of current post-scarcity realities, which will

be addressed at length in a later essay,

760

include the statistically

proven ability to generate an abundance of nutrition for the world's

population, an abundance of energy for responsible human use, an

758 See the essay Market Efficiency vs. Technical Efficiency.

759 The matter of degree, in fact, becomes arbitrary. Even if only possible with

a few resource sets, it does not change the goal and importance of the

pursuit of post-scarcity. Social improvement in general has been based

upon such alleviations.

760 See the essay Post-Scarcity Trends, Capacity and Efficiency.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

235

abundance of domiciles to shelter, at a high level of quality, every

family on earth, along with an abundance of goods, both needs-based

(i.e. tools) and reasonable

761

want based (luxury/specialty items) to

facilitate an ever-easing and improving quality of life unknown by

likely 99% of humanity today.

These and many other possibilities have been proven as

statistical realties for the Earth's current population and beyond,

accomplished through what R. Buckminster Fuller gesturally called the

“Design-Science Revolution”,

762

or the re-design of our social

infrastructure to enable this new and profound efficiency.

Needless to say, this societal redesign suggests a radical

departure from current social norms and established traditions,

including the very nature of our socioeconomic/governmental structure

itself. (The complex subject of transition will be discussed in a later

essay.)

763

(2) Maintain Optimized Ecological Balance & Sustainability:

Maintaining environmental sustainability is of obvious importance

given the human species has no independence from its habitat and is

strictly supported by it. In fact, evolution itself reveals that we are

actually generated from the habitat, further expressing the deeply

symbiotic/synergistic connection.

Any negative disturbance of these interconnected ecological

systems will likely result in proportional negative disturbances of our

wellbeing over time. Therefore, making sure the economic system in

practice has a structural, built-in respect for these natural orders is

critical to public health and sustainability in the long term. This aspect

itself is, in fact, a gauge of an economic system's own practical validity

as a life-support structure.

It is worth reiterating that the current market model of

economics maintains literally no structural acknowledgment of these

natural order laws. The market simply assumes such balance will be

maintained through what are rightly deemed metaphysical

mechanisms related to monetary-market dynamics alone -

764

A false

assumption.

761 The physically unsustainable, excessive property and “hoarding” mentality

common to the current culture's ideal of high social status and success

today needs alleviation.

762 Suggested Reading: R. Buckminster Fuller, Critical Path, St. Martin's Press,

1981

763 See the essay Transition & The Hybrid Economy.

764 See the essay History of Economy, where Adam Smith's notion of the

“Invisible Hand” is discussed.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

236

(3) Deliberate Liberation of Humanity from Monotonous,

Dangerous & Irreverent Labor:

As will be described in technical detail in a later essay

765

with respect

to the powerful, ephemeralization oriented trend of what is termed

mechanization (meaning the application of machines, displacing labor

roles commonly held by humans) the need for human toil and

suffering in monotonous, irrelevant or dangerous occupations has

become increasingly less needed.

This new technical reality has also created trends which were

once unimaginable, such as the fact that the application of automation

has proven to now be more efficient than human labor, making the

persistent tradition of “earning a living” an increasingly irresponsible

social convention given that we can now do more with less people in

virtually every sector today.

Likewise, it is also important to consider the pattern of human

employment over generational time, recognizing that the current social

detriment of “unemployment” is entirely manifest from the application

of technology to labor.

766

The great myth of the 20

th

century,

propagated by market economists is that technology creates jobs in

the same proportion as jobs are taken away by it.

767

This is now

proven as statistically incorrect as the exponential increase in

information technology and its translation into ever-advancing

machine efficiency proves the fallacy of this once seemingly true

observation.

768

Today, the 21

st

century labor crisis shows no sign of

765 See the essay Post-Scarcity Trends, Capacity and Efficiency

766 Economists would likely dispute this statement today, with the claim of

"outsourcing" and other issues brought into the equation (along with other

narrow, truncated distinctions). In truth, looking at human labor without

borders, on the global scale, over generational time, we see that it has been

technology and only technology that has shifted both production methods

and what is of interest to produce. If this progress were not seen, humanity

would never have experienced the Neolithic Revolution and hence would still

be hunting and gathering in a primitive way.

767 This assumption is part of what has been historically termed the “The

Luddite Fallacy”. It is worth noting that even if one were to entertain the

Luddite Fallacy's claim that new jobs are created to equally compensate for

displaced labor in a now-mechanized sector, increasingly it is becoming

realized that such jobs arguably have little to no actual relevance to the

viability and function of life-support. Hence, the "new jobs created"

invariably serve as a kind of waste of human energy. It is one thing to

perform acts of interest in one's life, on one's own accord. It is another to

be coerced into such meaningless labor simply because you must "work for

a living". Suggested Reading: David Graeber, On the Phenomenon of

Bullshit Jobs, Strike Magazine, 2013 (http://www.strikemag.org/bullshit-

jobs/)

768 The issue here is the rate of technological acceleration. One hundred years

ago, this rate of change was much less rapid, while today the rate of change

is increasing exponentially forward. While social shifts in industry and labor

were able to dynamically compensate for this change in the past due to the

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

237

subsiding

769

and will only find resolution through a restructuring of

industrial labor methods, altering the “work for a living” tradition

dramatically.

770

(4) Facilitate Active System Adaptation to Emerging Variables:

While this goal might seem more abstract than prior goals,

acknowledging the emergent reality of intellectual and industrial

evolution is critical. We must structurally allow for adaptation.

The aggregate intellectual culmination of human knowledge is

and, as the trends currently show, will always be, incomplete. Many

practices that might be deemed “sustainable” or in accord with public

health today, might very well be found to be detrimental in a relative

or absolute sense in the future. An example would be the decades past

of oil combustion. While little negative retroactions were found during

its early use, today there is a strong push to move away from

hydrocarbon energy use due to the growing consequences resulting

from its employment as the primary energy source for society –

especially given the current state of more clean and more abundant

alternatives.

Therefore, the industrial/economic system must be

dynamically updatable, enabling rapid error correction and

improvement as progress unfolds. Again, this type of flexibility is

currently missing in the market economy today, since any such

changes often have a destabilizing effect on the profitability of related

industries. Change in general is extremely slow in the modern period

in this regard due to the paralysis that originates from the

preservation of market share and group power. It can be well argued

that progress is often detrimental to existing profit schemes.

Macroeconomic Factors:

In traditional, market-based economic theory, macroeconomics deals

with the broadest influences and policies that affect, in part, the

relatively slow pace, as time moves forward, it will become ever more

difficult to maintain "labor for income" as we know it in the current tradition.

This is also because the exponential growth curve reduces the cost of

machine automation tools over time, setting up a general inevitability that

human labor in a certain sector will not only be outdone in performance by

machine but they will be cheaper in the long run. Suggested Reading:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-law-of-accelerating-returns

769 News and statistical reports on an emerging Global Unemployment Crisis

have been prolific in the early 21st century, specifically with young adults.

Reference: Generation jobless

(http://www.economist.com/news/international/21576657-around-world-

almost-300m-15-24-year-olds-are-not-working-what-has-caused)

770 Reference: Could Automation Lead to Chronic Unemployment? Andrew

McAfee Sounds the Alarm

(http://www.forbes.com/sites/singularity/2012/07/19/could-automation-

lead-to-chronic-unemployment-andrew-mcafee-sounds-the-alarm/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

238

dynamics and probable outcomes of the microeconomic condition. This

usually relates to growth measures, employment levels, interest rates,

national debts, currencies and the like.

In the context of a NLRBE, we can also establish economic

components which could be categorically thought about in the same

way, only this time it has to do with the largest order governing

pressures of the physical world directly, along with how these physical

principles relate to the more “microeconomic” actions of good

production, design, distribution and the like. In other words, it is an

overarching rule structure, supported by essentially physical science,

to ensure true economic efficiency is maintained and optimized.

At the core of the macroeconomic (and, by extension,

microeconomic) approach rests the method of thought and analysis

itself. This is “The Scientific Method”. It is often said that nothing in

science can be proven, only disproven. This is the beauty of the

method as its inherent skepticism of its own conclusions, if uninhibited

by human bias, can assure continual progress and adjustment. Science

gives a vehicle to arrive at conclusions, not “make them”, and it is this

system-based logic where all economic decisions are to be oriented

regarding both possibilities and restrictions.

771

Inherent to The Scientific Method in the context of

“macroeconomic policy” for a NLRBE are what we could consider Earth-

wide recognitions. These components have to do essentially with the

following:

(1) Global Resource Management

(2) Global Demand Assessment

(3) Global Production and Distribution Protocols.

These three factors are considered “macroeconomic” since they

embody core, near universal infrastructure considerations, regardless

of what a given production specifically entails or where it is on the

planet. (It should also be immediately recognized that the concept of a

“national economy” is no longer viable in this perspective, nor was it

ever, in truth, technically speaking.)

(1) Global Resource Management:

Global Resource Management is the process of tracking resource use

and hence working to predict and avoid shortages and other problems.

In effect, it is no different than the logic underlying most common

inventory systems we might find in the commercial arena today.

However, this system has to do primarily with tracking the rate of

natural generation to maintain dynamic equilibrium.

772

771 See the essay The Scientific Worldview.

772 Dynamic Equilibrium is defined as: “A condition in which all acting

influences are cancelled by others, resulting in a stable, balanced, or

unchanging system.” Source:

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dynamic+equilibrium

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

239

All known natural resources - whether lumber, copper ore,

water, oil, etc. - have their own rates of natural regeneration, if any.

In certain cases, such as the state of certain metals or minerals,

regeneration rates are so large scale that it would be more appropriate

to simply assume a finite supply outright.

773

Overall, this process

would begin with a total Earth survey to whatever degree technically

possible, tracked in real-time to whatever degree technically possible.

The catalogue of tracked resource components would include

all forms, from biotic resources such as trees, to abiotic resources such

as iron ores and the like. Pollution and other ecological disturbances of

resource integrity would also be accounted for. While such a total

systems approach to this Earth-wide resource accounting and tracking

system might seem like a difficult task, it is actually very feasible in

the modern day, with such technology already being employed by

respective industries in the corporate setting.

(2) Global Demand Assessment:

Global Demand Assessment is the process of realizing the demands of

the human population. In short, this process would be broken up into a

series of regional surveys, coupled with the release of publications that

inform the public as to new designs possible in consumer or industrial

production.

Whereas from the current cultural practice, which consists of

public advertising by profit seeking corporations, often impose

status/vanity oriented values on the population in many respects

rather than serving to assist them with existing needs, the process of

engagement in a NLRBE deals explicitly with creating awareness of

new technical possibilities as they emerge, while also allowing public

consensus to decide what is of interest to produce and what isn't.

774

This could be termed the “market” of a NLRBE. In many ways,

it can also be considered the mechanism of societal “governance” itself

since this type of social interaction towards decision-making does not

have to be restricted to mere good design and production.

775

After all,

at the core of any society are really the technical mechanisms that

enable order, well-being and quality of life.

We often forget what the purpose of a government really is in

the modern day. At its core, it is a means to assist economic

organization to improve life, ease stress and create safety. The

problem is that government today has necessarily turned into a

system of essentially organized corruption and “mafia” type

protectionism rather than a facilitator of life support.

In this new approach, a purely technical/interactive system is

established which works, in gesture, similar to how the notion of

773 For example, metals such as copper are now widely accepted to have

originated in stars, with the earth collecting these materials as it formed.

774 Today, it is only through price and profitability that demand is accessed.

Very rarely is the public invited to participate in future designs.

775 This will be addressed further in the essay: The Industrial Government

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

240

“direct democracy”

776

has been proposed to work in the modern day,

where decision-making processes involve group participation in a

direct way, goal by goal. With the exponential increase in computer-

based calculation power, this type of aggregate societal “thinking” is

now possible.

The details of this interactive system, along with an expansion

of an integral concept termed as “automated design” or the calculation

of utility-based systems (in this context the system being a good in

question), will be addressed in a following essay.

777

However, let it be

stated that all designs have a built-in logic towards what works, what

is sustainable and what reduces negative retractions (or problems). It

is this new, technical referential benchmark that guides the process of

industrial design.

Now, a final note worth mentioning in passing is that in the

current market economy, the demand assessment process is

orchestrated in a deeply haphazard manner via what is traditionally

termed the “price mechanism”.

778

Many in traditional economic schools

have even argued that the dynamic variability of human interests

makes it technically impossible to calculate such demand without the

price mechanism. While this may have been somewhat true in the

early 20

th

century when these claims were made, the age of advanced

computer calculation, coupled with modern sensing and tracking

technology, has removed this barrier of complexity.

779

(3) (a) Global Production & (b) Distribution Protocols:

Global Production and Distribution Protocols address the reasoning by

which the overall industrial system is to be laid out in the context of

Earth surface infrastructure. This simple notion has to do with where

these facilities are located and why. A basic economic factor to

consider here is what we will call the “proximity strategy”.

In the current system, the property orientation forces facilities

for production and distribution to be scattered and rather random in

placement. The advent of globalization and the constant search for

cost efficiency by corporations via cheap labor and resources creates

enormous inefficiency and waste, not to mention a basis for inhumane

labor exploitation and other problems.

In a NLRBE, the organization of global industrial processes are

776 Unlike “Representative Democracy” where elected representatives make

decisions, Direct Democracy allows individuals to vote on issues. This

association is used loosely here as the traditional notion of direct democracy

is too primitive. The suggested system has to do with public participation in

cumulative design of goods to meet needs, in part.

777 See the essay The Industrial Government.

778 Ludwig von Mises in his famous work Economic Calculation in the Socialist

Commonwealth argues that the “price mechanism” is the only possible

means to understand how to “efficiently” create and move goods around an

economy. This criticism of any kind of “planned” system has been touted as

sacrosanct by many today and as a vindication of the capitalist system.

779 See the essay The Industrial Government.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

241

based on optimizing efficiency at all times, creating a network of

facilities, logically based around factors related to the purpose of those

facilities. This is actually simple to consider since the variables related

can be quantified in importance fairly easily. Since the shortest

distance between two points is a straight line, coupled with the

modern technical capacity to produce many goods without the need for

regional conditions (e.g. advanced, enclosed food production systems),

a core concern to reduce energy and waste is to localize, as much as

possible.

(3a) Global Production Protocols: The best way to express this is

to provide a specific example by which variations can find a common

context. We will use the example of the textile industry, specifically

the manufacturing of clothing.

Today, 98% of the clothing Americans wear is imported,

mostly from China.

780

Most clothes are still made from cotton today.

Where does China like to get a great deal of its cotton? - the United

States.

781

So, today, the United States produces a core raw commodity

for the textile industry, ships to China to make the clothes, only to

have it shipped back to the US when done.

We can use our imagination with respect to the millions of

barrels of oil alone wasted over time on this movement of materials,

when such harvesting and production could be localized very easily.

Again, this is a product of the market economy's internal economic

mechanisms that have no regard for true, Earthly economic

relationships - which require physical efficiency and waste reduction -

not financial efficiency and a reduction of monetary costs. This is a

clear disconnect.

(3b) Global Distribution Protocols: The same basic logic applies to

post-production distribution. Once goods are created, they are to be

made available regionally in the most efficient way possible, based on

demand and proximity. Once established per regional needs,

distribution has three basic components:

3b1) Facility Location

3b2) Method of Access

3b3) Tracking/Feedback.

3b1) Facility Location:

Facility Location is based on logical proximity of a population

concentration. This is best exemplified with the current practice today

780 Source: Clothing 'Made in America': Should U.S. Manufacture More

Clothes? (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/MadeInAmerica/made-america-

clothes-clothing-made-usa/story?id=13108258)

781 Source: China Said to Buy 1 Million Tons of U.S. Cotton for Reserves

(http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-15/china-said-to-buy-1-million-

tons-of-u-s-cotton-for-reserves-1-.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

242

of (usually) placing grocery stores in average convenience about a

community, though even this strategy is often compromised by the

market's inherent logic.

782

However, other technological factors could

come into play to ease the movement of goods and reduce waste,

along with more convenient access. While local facilities containing the

most commonly needed goods might exist in close proximity around a

community, delivery systems, such as automated pneumatic tube

structures for medium-sized products, could be installed into homes in

the same manner as plumbing is built into a home today.

Other variations could include systems of access based on

specific, regional needs, such as the case with recreational activities.

Access facilities can be placed on location for various interests, such as

sports resources, supplying needed equipment at the time and place of

use.

3b2) Method of Access:

Method of Access is best described as a shared “library” system. This

isn't to imply that all items retrieved must be “returned” to these

access facilities, but to show that they can be for convenience. It is

certainly a welcomed practice since this process of “sharing” is a

powerful enabler of both preservation efficiency and public access

efficiency. In other words, fewer goods are needed to meet the

interests of more of the population through sharing systems, as

compared to the 1:1 universal property system practiced today.

A common example would be specialized tool needs that are

used relatively sparsely in the population. Production equipment for a

specific project and recreation equipment that might be used only a

few times a year, are simple examples. On the other side of the

spectrum, everyday needs, such as personal communication

technology and the like, are made available in the same way, with an

expectation of return likely only when the item fails, so it can be

recycled or repaired. This concept of moving from a property-oriented

to an access-oriented society is a powerful notion. Today, certain

“rental” industries have already seen the fruits of this concept in the

form of convenience, even in a market system.

783

Again, comparing to the current model, these facilities exist

like “stores” do today, with regional demand dynamically calculated to

ensure supply abundance and avoid shortages and overruns. The

difference is that nothing is “sold” and the ethos is of an strategically

efficient, interactive system of sharing, with, again, returns occurring

782 Reference: Why do competitors open their stores next to one another? -

Jac de Haan (http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-competitors-open-their-

stores-next-to-one-another-jac-de-haan)

783 Bike and Car sharing systems are common examples. The “ZipCar” is a

company that provides localized access to car rentals in a regional context,

based on need. Likewise, Europe has seen a rise in on-location street bike

rentals as well, with various docking/access stations strategically located

around a city.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

243

also when product life expires or when the good is no longer needed.

As an aside, there is a common reaction to this idea that

problems such as “hoarding” or some kind of abuse would ensue. This

assumption is basically superimposing current monetary-market

consequences on the new model, erroneously. People in the scarcity

driven world today hoard and protect impulsively when they have

something to fear or wish to exploit goods for their market value. In

the NLRBE, there is no resale value in the system since there is no

money.

784

Therefore, the idea of hoarding anything would be an

inconvenience rather than an advantage.

785

3b3) Tracking/Feedback:

Tracking and Feedback, as implied above, is an integral part of

keeping the system, both regional and global, as fluid as possible,

when it comes to not only the meeting of regional demand through

adequate supply, but also keeping pace with changes in extraction,

production, distribution technology and new demands. Naturally, these

factors are highly synergistic. Sensor systems, programs and other

resource tracking technology have been rapidly developing for various

industrial uses.

786

Modern commercial inventory systems are already

quite advanced in the proper context when it comes to demand and

distribution. The issue is merely its scalability in certain contexts to

account for all necessary attributes.

In conclusion to this section on macroeconomic factors, the

overarching consideration is efficiency on all levels and this has its own

causal logic as noted before, when considered in the larger ecological

and physical system interconnectivity inherent to the natural world.

This efficiency has to do with waste reduction and meeting human

needs, always oriented in its possibilities by the current state of

technology via the scientific method.

Microeconomic Factors:

Given these so-called macroeconomic concepts, it is important to

restate that the underlying principles regarding optimum efficiency,

productivity and sustainability are the same throughout the whole

model, from top to bottom. This is, again, the train of thought coming

from the scientific method, calculated within the near-empirical

framework of natural law logic itself.

Now, while traditional market-based economic theory

considers “microeconomics” as something of a study of the behavior of

784 A summarized explanation of why a monetary economy is structurally

incompatible with the level of efficiency and goals of this new model is

detailed in the essay: "Post-Scarcity Trends, Capacity and Efficiency"

785 The subject of seemingly unpredictable, human behavioral aberration (i.e.

“crime”) is addressed in the essay "Lifestyle, Freedom and The Humanity

Factor"

786 Reference: HP invents a central nervous system for earth.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1548674/hp-invents-central-nervous-system-

earth-and-joins-smarter-planet-sweepstakes

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

244

individuals, households and businesses making decisions around

markets, price determinations and other factors based essentially

around the movement of money in various ways, the microeconomic

context of a NLRBE is quite different.

Microeconomic considerations in this new model revolve

around the actual methods of good design and production itself. This is

basically organized around two factors:

1) Product Design Efficiency

2) Means of Production Efficiency

(1) Product Design Efficiency relates to the integrity of design

itself. Today, cost efficiency and the resulting technical inefficiencies,

coupled with the corporate process of competition and the vast

unnecessary duplication of specific goods, has created a climate of

unnecessary waste and limited product lifespans. There are also, as

will be discussed in greater detail in a moment, few built-in recycling

protocols, if any, during these production designs as well. This is

important because advanced recycling would assist in more

preservation of materials in the long run, adding to long-term

efficiency.

Likewise, proprietary technologies, serving the interest to

preserve market share for a particular business, have created an

environment where there is very little compatibility of component parts

across multiple manufacturers of the same basic products.

Therefore, five component factors are relevant here:

1a) Optimized Durability

1b) Optimized Adaptability

1c) Universal Standardization

1d) Integrated Recycling Protocols

1e) Conducive for Automation

1a) Optimized Durability:

Optimized Durability simply means that any good produced is done so

with the intention to last as long as possible, in this most strategic

manner possible. The notion of strategic is important here for this is

not to imply that all, for example, computer enclosures should be

made out of titanium, simply because it is very strong. Once again,

this is a synergistic design calculation where the notion of the “best”

material for a given purpose is always relative to parallel production

needs which also might require that type of material. Therefore, the

decision to use a specific material is to be assessed not only for its use

for the specific good, but also by comparing it to the needs of other

productions which require similar efficiency. Nothing exists outside this

system-centric comparison. All industrial decisions are made with

consideration of the largest system degree of relevance.

This interest to create the “strategically best” is critical to

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

245

human sustainability, especially when it has been reported that we are

using our natural resources today faster than the planet is generating

them, due to such inefficiencies.

787

The modern “throwaway” culture is

not only driven by a hedonistic, short-sighted value system imposed

by modern advertising and current measures of “wealth” and

“success”, it is also needed to maintain the paid labor system, a

pivotal part of keeping the market economy going.

1b) Optimized Adaptability:

Optimized Adaptability is really a sub-component of “Optimized

Efficiency” in the context of design engineering. Today, from

automobiles to cell phones, efficiency increasing technological

advancements continue rapidly. Yet, even with this rapid rate of

change, other larger order attributes remain the same for relatively

longer periods of time, as per historical trends. In other words,

different production components have different rates of change and

this means a system of “adaptability” and active “updating” can be

foreshadowed through trend analysis, with the resulting expectations

built into an existing design to the best degree possible.

An example would be the rate of change of a computer

system's chip processor (CPU). The advancement of chip power has

been accelerating rapidly due to Moore's law. As a result, many

software applications, as they improve to embrace these new speeds

enabled, will not work on computer system with older chips. This

typically forces the user to buy a new computer system, even though

the only true issue is the CPU, not the whole system. While other

factors can come into play such as system compatibility with the new

chip, seldom do people update these chips alone, even though it is

feasible.

This kind of adaptability is critical today on all levels, which

alludes to the next economic component, “universal standardization”.

1c) Universal Standardization:

Universal Standardization is a set of optimized protocols, generated

from mass industrial feedback in a collaborative way that works to

create uniform, universal compatibility of all components associated to

a given good genre. Today, this lack of standardization is a source of

not only great waste, but great instability in the functioning of

common goods, since the competitive ethos and proprietary intent

restricts efficiency in a powerful way.

This practice has been justified under the guise of “progress”

in design with the premise that competing corporations, incentivized

by financial gain, will “outdo” each other and hence be more

productive with advancement. While there might be some truth to this,

the retardation, waste and instability caused does not justify the

787 Source: Report: Consumption of Earth's resources unsustainable

(http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57434525/report-consumption-

of-earths-resources-unsustainable/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

246

practice. Furthermore, it has, and will always be, the sharing of

information in the long run that has led to advancement, both personal

and societal.

Creating a research database of known component parts by

industry, actively shared across the world as a point of design

reference and feedback in the creation of common parts and goods, is

not a difficult task and certainly would not inhibit technological

advancement or ingenuity. If anything, it would present more diverse

information and perspectives and hence better decisions could be

made faster.

1d) Integrated Recycling Protocols:

This simply means that the current state of component and material

reuse is optimized directly and strategically considered in the very

design of the product itself. Again, this does not happen in the modern

day, in any efficient way. A survey of landfills in the world finds many

useful component parts that have been discarded in association with

larger systems (goods). Since a normal corporation who makes such

items rarely encourages them to be returned for direct reprocessing,

this is the inevitable outcome.

Furthermore, while traditional plastic, glass, paper and other

recycling systems are in place with moderate efficiency, this process is

really crude and ineffective in comparison to direct, industry-connected

regeneration. In a NLRBE, optimized recycling considerations to reuse

materials, preformed or not, would be standard. In the end, “landfills”

would not exist in this approach, as there is a way to reuse virtually

everything we produce, if we had the interest to do so.

1e) Conducive for Automation:

This means that a given good design accounts for the state of labor

automation, seeking to remove human involvement whenever possible

by more efficient, often less complex design. In other words, part of

the efficiency equation is to make the production easy to produce by

automated means, taking into account the current state of automation

techniques. We seek to simplify the way materials and production

means are used so that the maximum number of goods can be

produced with the least variation of materials and production

equipment. More on this in the next section.

(2) Means of Production Efficiency:

Means of Production Efficiency as an economic component refer to the

actual tools and methods used in industrial production itself. While this

could also be considered a macroeconomic factor in many ways, it is

considered microeconomic based on the fact that it relates to direct,

specific production as well, along with human labor roles.

The means of production of anything is directly related to the

state of technology. From the Neolithic Revolution, with the advent of

stone tools, to the birth of “cybernation” today and “thinking”

machines that can assess, execute and problem solve, the core

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

247

foundation of all “labor” has been an engagement with available,

assisting technological tools.

The trend has been an easing of labor overall, with a general

reduction of the human workforce in each sector as related to

capacity. Two hundred years ago, the agricultural industry employed

most of the people in the United States. Today, only a very small

fraction is working in agriculture due to machine application and

automation. This phenomenon and trend of “mechanization” is

important because today it is challenging the very basis of the labor

for income system, along with foreshadowing productivity moving

towards a point of what could be termed “post-scarcity”.

Today, we are more productive with less people in any given

sector, relative to time and capacity, due to the application of machine

technology. In many ways, this reality marks one of the most

significant shifts in our social evolution, challenging the very fabric of

our current social system, revealing immense possibilities for the

future as far as the creation of a strategic abundance.

So, in a NLRBE, this ability is maximized, reducing the human

work force as we know it by a liberal application and expansion of

automation, increasing productivity vastly. Human labor involvement,

while still necessary even in more advanced phases, is reduced to

broad oversight of these automated systems as they are established.

Factories are also no longer bound by traditional restrictions due to an

eight hour long, five day a week schedule since there is no reason,

given the massive reduction of human contribution possible. These

systems could now function 24 hours a day, seven days a week, if

needed.

As an aside, the question is often posed: “How many people

are needed to oversee fluid operations and handle problem

resolution?” This kind of question can be answered by assessing

current statistical trends, averaging them and then extrapolating them

forward.

However, there is a common confusion between “work” in the

sense of common drudgery by which the monetary incentive is a

common reward, and the “work” which all humans, due to pure

creative interest and contributive intent, perform as well. A deep value

shift assumed by TZM is that progress in the classic distinction of

“work” will morph into a type of social contribution that is actually of

enjoyment and interest to people. Today, all across the world, the

human interest to explore, create and improve exists, regardless of

the monetary imposition.

However, due the constant pressure for income in the current

model, nearly all such acts assume the needed context of a pursuit of

money for survival. It could be argued that this has polluted the more

natural human incentive system to explore, learn and create, without

such a pressure.

That noted, the notion of “work” then in the context of

overseeing operations, repairing systems and other maintenance

would likely not be reduced to the type of drudgery we so often

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

248

considered the “work” reality in the modern day. Rather, the act is

respected as a form of personal contribution for personal and social

gain, since every act engaged in this type of system has a direct

personal benefit to the people working to keep it operating smoothly.

Again, this incentive is almost non-existent in the current

mode since the capitalist system is designed for all the core profit

benefits to go to the owners of the businesses, with the fruits of

production often never relating to the worker in a direct sense, absent

mere wage rewards. Today, employee/owner relations exist as

something of a “class war”, with animosity between the groups a

common occurrence.

788

In this new approach, all acts of contribution

benefit the person performing the act, and the community at large.

They are connected directly.

That being understood, only a very small fraction of the

population would be “required”, as it were, to engage in maintaining

the core systems, likely about 5% of the population when industrial

methods reach modern possibilities. This 5% could then be broken-up

across the population. So, if a given population of a city region is

50,000 people, the industrial system would require 2500 people,

assuming a traditional work week of eight hours a day for five days per

week. This translates into 100,000 hours being worked a week. In

terms of the total population this work responsibility amounts to a

mutual obligation of each person “working” only two hours a week.

Clearly, this is a hypothetical as in such an advanced system, a

system that serves everyone, human values would change greatly and

many would likely be honored to take on more hours, reducing the

obligation of others. Once again, we are talking about barebones

maintenance here, as opposed to an immersive "job" as is currently

understood and required. In reality, a free society of this nature could

create an eruption of creative advancement and progress never before

seen, with people working to contribute in vast, robust ways. Why? -

Because, again, such individuals would also be helping themselves

directly in the process. Any invention, or breakthrough in efficiency

serves the entire community in this model. Self-interest becomes

social interest.

So, to conclude this point, this new means of production is

about focusing core labor on true technical productivity that has a

direct social/personal return, with the most liberal focus on automation

and such efficiency increasing technology and automation as much as

possible.

Conclusion

As with anything of this brevity, we have an inevitable incompleteness.

Other factors, both macro and micro, could be expressed in further

detail. However, if one follows this basic train of thought, a train of

thought governed by scientific logic to ensure optimized physical

efficiency and sustainability, these other parameters inevitably make

788 See the essay Structural Classism, the State and War.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

249

themselves known.

In short, the outcome of this NLRBE system requires the same

type of respectful engagement as with any other natural system. Just

as our understanding of the forest and its regeneration and

biodiversity has led a basic philosophy to engage this ecosystem with

respect to its vulnerabilities to ensure its long-term integrity, the same

logic applies to the NLRBE as a whole.

This social model is an attempt to mirror the natural world in

the most direct way possible and could be considered a “natural

system” just like anything else we find in nature, such as an

ecosystem. Would it ever be perfect? No. But the logical foundation is

there for constant improvement, far beyond the state of affairs today.

The following summary tree, as a general outline for this essay, has

been generated for review:

NLRBE: An Economic Model Overview:

-System (Social) Goals

(1) Optimized Industrial Efficiency; Active Pursuit of “Post-

Scarcity” Abundance.

(2) Maintain Optimized Ecological/Cultural Balance &

Sustainability.

(3) Deliberate Liberation of Humanity from

Monotonous/Dangerous Labor.

(4) Facilitate Active System Adaptation to Emerging Variables.

-Macroeconomic Components

(a) Global Resource Management

(b) Global Demand Assessment

-Creating awareness of new technical possibilities

-Public consensus to decide what is of interest to

produce

(c) Global Production and Distribution Protocols

-Global Production

-Strategic Localization

-Global Distribution

-Facility Location

-Method of Access

-Tracking & Feedback

-Microeconomic Components

(a) Specific Good Efficiency

-Optimized durability

-Optimized adaptability

-Universal standardization

-Integrated Recycling Protocols

-Conducive for Automation

(b) Means of Production Efficiency

-Applied Mechanization

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

250

-THE INDUSTRIAL GOVERNMENT-

Modern politics is business politics...This is true both of foreign and domestic

policy. Legislation, police surveillance, the administration of justice, the military

and diplomatic service, all are chiefly concerned with business relations,

pecuniary interests, and they have little more than an incidental bearing on

other human interests.

789

-Thorstein Veblen

Political vs. Technical Governance

The nature and unfolding of the politically driven model of

representative democracy, legislation creation and the sanctioned

enforcement of law, are all borne out of natural tendencies inherent to

the act of commerce and trade, operating within a scarcity-driven

social order.

The development of this commercial regulation and the

rationale behind the very existence of “state governance” is quite

easy to trace historically. After the Neolithic revolution, humanity's

once nomadic patterns shifted toward a new propensity to farm, settle

and create towns. Specialization flourished and trade was hence

inevitable. However, given the possibility for imbalance and dispute, as

regional populations grew and regional resources often became more

scarce, a security and regulatory practice manifested to protect a

community's land, property, trade integrity and the like.

The use of an “army”, which is sanctioned to protect by public

decree, became standardized, along with an adjacent legal or

regulatory authority complex, sanctioned to essentially give power to a

set group of officials which facilitate such policy creation, enforcement,

trials, punishment practices and the like.

This is mentioned here as there are many schools of economic

thought in the early 21

st

century that talk about reducing or even

removing the state apparatus entirely, falsely assuming the state itself

is a separate entity and the starting point of blame for current societal

woes or economic inefficiencies. Yet, on the other side of the debate

spectrum is a general cry for increased state regulation of the market

to ensure more limits on business manipulation and hence work to

avoid what has been often perceived as “crony capitalism”

790

. The

truth of the matter is that this polarizing, false duality between the

“state” and the “market” is blind to the true root cause of what is

789 The Theory of Business Enterprise, Thorstein Veblen, p.269

790 “Crony Capitalism” is defined as "A description of capitalist society as being

based on the close relationships between businessmen and the state.

Instead of success being determined by a free market and the rule of law,

the success of a business is dependent on the favoritism that is shown to it

by the ruling government in the form of tax breaks, government grants and

other incentives." [

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cronycapitalism.asp ] It is important

to note that TZM does not believe in this distinction as it falsely assumes

such collusion is avoidable.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

251

actually causing problems, not realizing that the dyad of state and

market synergy is, in reality, a single power system in play, at once.

Irrespective of the merit of any specific argument as to the

favoring of the “free market” vs. the favoring of “state regulation”, all

business dealings have historically required some level of legal

mediation. This is because all transactions are a form of competition

and all competition invites the possibility of fraud or abuse, given the

natural pressure of external circumstances and the nature of survival

itself, within the bounds of the scarcity-based market. The fact is, any

form of commerce that exists in this scarcity-reinforced worldview, will

manifest so-called “corrupt” or dishonest behavior constantly. It is

firmly incentivized. The degree of corruption itself even becomes a

matter of opinion, in fact. The line between accepted business acumen

and blatant dishonest persuasion is not an easy distinction to make

today in the broad view.

Therefore, some type of overriding decision-making power has

always been granted to some group body to mediate conflicts and this

is the seed of governmental power, as we know it. Yet, the punch line

of the whole circumstance is that in a world where everything is

powered by money; in a world where, in truth, everything is for sale,

the rapid “corruption” of any such regulation or power establishment is

also essentially guaranteed over time, to one degree or another.

791

Put another way, there will always be a need for legal

regulation of transactions in the market by some publicly sanctioned

institution, and the market ethic will always corrupt such regulation to

some extent with the influence of money because money and business

are actually what make the world move. This is simply what is to be

expected when the entire psychological foundation of existence is

based on survival through acts of competitive self-interest, oriented by

the universal assumption of empirical scarcity, with no real structural

safeguards given to members of society for some reassurance in

survival. To think any regulatory agency would not be susceptible to

such corruption; to think state policy and hence coercion could not be

'purchased' like any other commodity is to deny the basic philosophical

foundation inherent to the market's notion of “freedom” itself.

Therefore, complaining about state regulation or lack thereof is

ultimately a moot issue in the broad scheme of long-term societal

change. True social change will not come about by the illusive

preference of one of these over the other. It will only come about by

installing a completely different system which eliminates both the

791 Corporate Lobbying, which is legal across the world, is a perfect example.

This is legal because commercial institutions are the backbone of economic

development. Government gains income from taxation and the level of gain

coming from that taxation is directly tied to the businesses that hire people

and sell goods. Therefore, it is only natural to assume they should have

input in political decisions, at least in theory. Yet, the moral hazard is

obvious since their input will inevitably work to serve their business

interests. Civil government is, in truth, business government.

Ref: http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

252

market and the state as we know it, elevating the entire framework

out of the narrow, competitive focus of managing scarcity in the

current “earn a living or suffer” system, to a focus on facilitating a

sustainable abundance and the meeting of human needs directly.

So, the following economic and management information

presents a vast departure from the current, day-to-day unfolding of

life as we know it when it comes to commerce and social management.

What this model does is literally remove the edifice of representative

government and replace it with a kind of participatory democracy. This

participation is mediated through digital communication methods that

can bring the interests of the whole community into calculation,

whether dealing with interests of the so-called “public” sector or the

“private” sector. In actuality, there is no difference in the process of

participation and hence there would no longer be a public or private

sector.

The importance of this kind of management resides in several

areas. For one it assures that human social operation is in accord with

basic sustainability principles needed to operate with generational

longevity, whilst also maintaining a vigilant focus on producing the

most strategically necessary goods at the peak technical capacity

known at the time of production. Such management is also about

removing the vast incentive and requirement for corruption and

corrupt behaviors, abuse and business/government collusion which has

plagued civilization since antiquity. The active pursuit of abundance

through these sustainable means ensures not only survival and

efficiency, but stability, ease and a higher state of public health on a

vast scale.

Economic Model Defined

An economic model is a theoretical construct representing component

processes by a set of variables or functions, describing the logical

relationships between them. If one has studied traditional or market-

based economic modeling, a great deal of time is often spent on things

such as price trends, behavioral patterns, inflation, the labor market,

currency fluctuations, and so forth.

Rarely, if ever, is anything said about public or ecological

health. Why? - Because the market is life-blind and decoupled from

the actual science of life support and sustainability. It is a proxy

system that is based only around the act of exchange and exchange

preferences.

Therefore, the best way to think about a NLRBE is not in the

traditional terms of any form of market-oriented economic model

common today. Rather, this model can best be thought about as an

advanced production, distribution and management system, which is

democratically engaged by the public, through a kind of “participatory

economics”.

This type of approach facilitates input processes, such as

design proposals and demand assessment, while also filtering all

actions through what we could call sustainability and efficiency

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

253

protocols. These protocols are the basic rules of industrial action set by

natural law, not human opinion. As noted, neither of these two

interests is structurally inherent in the capitalist model.

Goals, Myths & Overview

All economic systems have structural goals and often times these

goals are not exactly apparent in the theories set forward in principle.

The market system and a NLRBE have very different structural goals.

-Market capitalism's structural goal is growth and maintaining rates of

consumption high enough to keep enough people employed at any

given time. Likewise, employment itself requires a culture of real or

perceived inefficiency and that often means the preservation of

scarcity in one form or another.

-A NLRBE's goal is to optimize technical efficiency and create the

highest level of abundance possible, within the bounds of Earthly

sustainability, seeking to meet human needs directly.

That noted, there are a number of assumptions, myths and confusions

that have arisen over time that are worth addressing upfront. The first

is the idea that this model is “centrally planned”. What this assumes,

based on historical precedent, is that an elite group of people will

make the economic decisions for the society.

A NLRBE is not centrally planned. It is a Collaborative Design

System (CDS). It is based entirely upon public interaction, facilitated

by programmed, open-access systems, that enable a constant,

dynamic feedback exchange that can literally allow for the input of the

public on any given industrial matter, whether personal or social.

Given this, another outcry is “but who programs the system?”,

which once again assumes that an elitist interest could exist behind

the mediating software programs themselves (as will be expanded

upon more so in this essay). The answer, as odd as it may sound, is

everyone and no one. The tangible rules of the laws of nature, as they

apply to environmental sustainability and engineering efficiency, are

an objective frame of reference. The nuances may change to some

degree over time, but the general principles of efficiency and

sustainability remain, as they have been deduced by basic physics,

along with several thousand years of recorded history by which we

have been able to recognize basic, yet critical patterns in nature.

Moreover, the actual programming utilized by this interactive

system would be available in an open source platform for public input

and review. In fact, the system is predicated entirely upon the

intelligence of the “group mind” and the open source/open access

sharing virtue will help bring all viable interests to the surface for

public consideration, in an absolutely transparent manner.

Another confusion surrounds a concept that has, to many,

become, the defining difference between capitalism and most all other

historically proposed social models. That has to do with whether the

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

254

“means of production” is privately owned or not. In short, the means

of production refers to the non-human assets that create goods, such

as machinery, tools, factories, offices and the like. In capitalism, the

capitalist owns the means of production, by historical definition.

There has been an ongoing argument for a century that any

system that does not have its means of production owned as a form of

private property, using currency as the information mechanism, is not

going to be as economically efficient as one that does. This, as the

argument goes, is because of the use of the price mechanism.

792

Price, to its credit, has the ability to create exchange value

amongst virtually any set of goods due to its divisibility. This creates a

feedback mechanism that connects the entire market system in a

certain, narrow way. Price, property and money work together to

translate subjective demand preferences into semi-objective exchange

values. The notion of “semi” is employed here because it is a culturally

relative measure only, absent almost every factor that gives true

technical quality to a given material, good or process.

Arguably, the only tangible technical data price that embodies,

crudely, relates to a resource's 'scarcity' and the 'labor

energy/complexity' put into the creation of a given good. Keep this in

mind, as these two value variables will also be addressed again later in

this essay with respect to non-price oriented calculation.

That all noted, the reasonable question becomes: is it possible

to create a system that can more efficiently facilitate feedback with

respect to consumer preference, demand, labor value and resource or

component scarcity, without the price system, subjective property

values or market exchange? The answer is yes. The modern solution is

to completely eliminate exchange and create a direct control and

feedback link between the consumer and the means of production

itself. The consumer actually becomes part of the means of production

and the industrial complex as a whole becomes a tool that is accessed

by the public, at will, to generate goods.

To illustrate this, most today likely own a simple paper printer

connected to a home computer. When a file is sent to print from the

computer, the user is in control of a miniature version of a means of

production. Likewise, in some cities today, there are now 3D printing

labs, where people in the community can send their 3D design and use

these machines to print what they need in physical form. The model

being presented here is a similar idea. The next step in this scaling

process is the creation of a strategically automated industrial complex,

localized as much as possible, which is designed to produce, through

automated means, the average of everything any given region has

found demand for. As will be described, this is very feasible given the

current state of technology and the ephemeralization trends at hand.

Imagine, for example, a clothing store except that is not

organized like a "store" as is currently understood. It is a multi-

792 This objection is common to the Austrian school of economics. Reference:

http://mises.org/econcalc.asp

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

255

purpose textile-printing house. You find the design you are interested

in online, along with the materials you prefer and other

customizations, and you print that article of clothing “on-demand” at

that facility. Consider for a moment how much storage space,

transport energy, and overrun waste is eliminated by this approach if

virtually everything could be created on-demand, done by automated

systems which can continually produce a greater variety of goods,

from increasingly smaller manufacturing configurations.

In truth, the real fallacy of this “private ownership of the

means of production” objection is its culture lag. Today, industry is

witnessing a merger of capital goods, consumer goods and labor

power. Machines are taking over human labor power, becoming capital

goods, while also ever reducing in size to become consumer goods.

The result is an increasingly smaller and more optimized industrial

complex that can do more and more with less and less.

It is also worth mentioning that labor automation is now

making the historically notable 'labor theory of value'

793

increasingly

moot as well. Today, the labor energy that goes into a given good,

while still a factor for process recognition, does not have much of a

quantifiable correlation anymore. Today, machines now make and

design machines. While the initial creation of a machine might require

a good deal of human planning and initial construction at this time,

once set in motion, there is a constant decrease in that labor value

transference over time.

793 Reference: investopedia.com (http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/labor-

theory-of-value.asp)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

256

Structure and Processes

Design Efficiency

Production Efficiency

Distribution Efficiency

Recycling Efficiency

design

E

p

E

dist

E

r

E

Figure 1. Block-Scheme of System Process

Figure 2. System process as Expression

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

257

Figure 3. Logic Symbols and Description

As will be described in detail by section, figure 1 shows the linear

schematic of the industrial process, moving from design to production

to distribution and recycling. Figure 2 shows how an optimization of

such efficiency can be considered from a mathematical point of view,

as a minimization or maximization of some functional.

Because we are talking about efficiency, we can consider the

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

258

problem as a maximization of the production function

f

P

. Figure 3 is a

table of symbols and descriptions, as will be used in the following

explanations. It is important to note that not all attributes will be

covered in this text. The purpose of this essay and the formulas

suggested are done so to give a starting point for calculation,

highlighting the most relevant, overarching attributes for

consideration.

A full algorithmic calculation of this nature, taking into account

all related sub-processes in real life terms would require an enormous

text/programming treatment and will likely occur in a future edition of

this text's appendix, as an ongoing project development.

Collaborative Design Interface

The starting point for interaction in a NLRBE is the CDI, or

collaborative design interface. The CDI could abstractly be considered

the “new “market” or the market of ideas or designs. Design is the

first step in any production interest and this interface can be engaged

by a single person; it can be engaged by a team; it can be engaged by

everyone. It is open source and open access and it would come in the

form of an online web interface.

The notion of “market” is expressed here not to conflate the

notion of trade, but rather the notion of sharing and group decision-

making. As with the traditional sales market, there is a swarm type of

behavior which makes decisions over time as a group whole with

respect to what goods will develop (demand) and what goods will

perish (lack of demand). In a certain sense, this democratic process is

embraced in a NLRBE, but by different means.

Moreover, all submitted designs, in creation or deemed

complete, are stored in an open access, searchable database. This

database makes all designs available for others to use or build upon.

In this way, it is similar to a traditional goods catalog commonly found

today, except it contains digital designs that can be sent into

production at any time, on demand.

This design creation and proposal system is how demand itself

is assessed. Instead of traditional advertising and the unidirectional

consumer good proposal system - where companies work to persuade

the consumer as to what they should buy, with the public mostly going

with the flow, favoring or not favoring a company's pitched good,

component or feature by purchase or not - this system works in an

opposite, more involved and democratic manner.

In this new, open source type design approach, the entire

global community has the option of presenting ideas for everyone to

see, weighing in on and building upon designs, harnessing the power

of collective experience and global knowledge.

The mechanism of the CDI would come in the form of an

interactive interface, such as we see commonly today with computer-

aided design (CAD) or computer-aided engineering (CAE) software. In

short, these programs are able to digitally create and represent any

given product design, containing all information as to how it should be

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

259

made in final, physical manufacturing.

Above: CAD Interface Design Example

As an aside, many considering the educational requirements to engage

such an interface, might be concerned about use-complexity.

Naturally, the more dedicated designer will develop the skills needed

to whatever degree interested while, for the more casual user,

different degrees of interface complexity and skill orientation can be

utilized.

This more user-friendly interfacing can develop in a similar

fashion to how personal computers transitioned from complex

proprietary coding interfaces with manually input instructions, to the

now ubiquitous, simple graphic interface icon system, which allows

users to operate more intuitively. Future CAD/CAE type programs will

likely evolve in the same way, making the interactive process more

accessible.

In many cases, as the database is always populated with

current, already existing designs, the practice will be to build upon

other's work. For example, if an engineer is interested in the

optimization of a cell phone, they have the option of building upon any

existing phone product design in the database, rather than starting

from scratch.

The benefit of this cannot be emphasized enough as a

collaborative platform. Rather than limit the design input to, say, a

boardroom of engineers and marketers, as is common practice today,

literally millions of minds can be brought together to accelerate any

given idea in this approach. This new incentive system also ensures

everyone interested in the good will receive exactly what everyone

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

260

else is likely to receive in its advanced optimization states, where

personal interest becomes directly tied to societal interest.

Also, given the patterns today, likely not everyone would want

or need to be a designer. Many people would be satisfied enough by

what had been set in motion already by others, with perhaps minor

customization along the way. Today, a very small percentage of the

population actually create and engineer the dominant technology and

goods we use; and this specialization may naturally continue in the

future to some degree, even though it is to the advantage of everyone

if more minds came together. If the educational system is orientated

away from rote learning and its antiquated basis that originated in the

19

th

century social order, we could see an explosion of input and

creativity.

All that understood, an incredibly important component of

these design and engineering programs today is how they can now

incorporate advanced physics and other real world, natural law

properties with the proposed design for testing. In other words, the

good isn't just viewable in a static visual model with noted properties,

it can actually be tested right there, virtually, to a relevant degree.

For instance, all new automobile designs today, long before

they are physically built, are run through complex digital testing

processes that assist in design integrity greatly.

794

Over time, there is

no reason to believe that we will not be able to digitally represent, and

set in motion for testing, most all known laws of nature, applying them

in different contexts, virtually.

Optimized Efficiency Standards:

Efficiency standards are standards by which a given design must

conform. This evaluation will be calculated automatically, or

algorithmically, by the CDS's programming. This can also be thought

of as a filtering process.

In short, any proposed design will be digitally filtered through

a series of sustainability and efficiency protocols which relate not only

to the state of existing resources, but also to the current performance

of the total industrial system.

These would include the following “efficiency standards”.

795

a) Strategically Maximized Durability

b) Strategically Maximized Adaptability

c) Strategic Standardization of Genre Components

d) Strategically Integrated Recycling Conduciveness

794 Reference: Engineering revolution: CAD/CAE advancements changing

vehicle development. (http://wardsauto.com/news-amp-

analysis/engineering-revolution-cadcae-advancements-changing-vehicle-

development)

795 Please note these protocols were also addressed in the essay True

Economic Factors, in the context of “microeconomic components”, with mild

variation in the language.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

261

e) Strategic Conduciveness for Labor Automation

Figure 4. Symbolic Logic for the “Optimized Design Efficiency” function

As per figure 4, design efficiency

E

design

is one of the main factors that

can affect the overall efficiency of the manufacturing and distribution

process. This design efficiency depends on several key factors, which

can be called current efficiency standards

i

design

E

. Here the index

i

corresponds to some particular standard.

Each standard will be generally explored as follows, expanding

in certain cases with respect to the symbolic logic associated, for the

sake of clarity.

a) ‘Strategically Maximized Durability’ means to make the good as

strong and lasting as relevant. The materials utilized, comparatively

assuming possible substitutions due to levels of scarcity or other

factors, would be dynamically calculated, likely automatically by the

design system, to be most conducive to an optimized durability

standard.

Durability

t

d

maximization. This durability

t

d

(d

1

, d

2

,..., d

i

)

maximization can be considered as a local optimization issue. It can be

analyzed by introducing the factors

d

i

which affect it where

o

i

oo

ddd ,...,,

21

are some optimal values of the factors.

b) ‘Strategically Maximized Adaptability’

A

design

means the highest

state of flexibility for replacing component parts is made. In the event

a component part of a good becomes defective or out of date, the

design facilitates that such components are easily replaced to

maximize full product life span, always avoiding the interest to replace

the good as a whole.

c) 'Strategic Standardization of Genre Components’

g

c

1

, g

c

2

,...g

c

i

,...g

c

Nc

means all new designs either conform to or replace existing

components which are either already in existence or outdated due a

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

262

lack of comparative efficiency. This logic should not only apply to a

given product, it should apply to the entire good genre, however

possible.

The aim is to minimize the total number of genre components

Nc

. In

other words, the standardization of the process will enable the

possibility of lowering the number

Nc

to a possible minimum.

d) 'Recycling Conduciveness'

c

r

means every design must conform to

the current state of regenerative possibility. The breakdown of any

good must be anticipated in the initial design and allowed for in the

most optimized way.

e) 'Strategic Conduciveness for Labor Automation' means that the

current state of optimized, automated production is also taken into

account, seeking to refine the design to be most conducive to

production with the least amount of complexity, human labor or

monitoring. Again, we seek to simplify the way materials and

production means are used so that the maximum number of goods can

be produced with the least variation of materials and production

equipment.

This is denoted by human labor

H

L

and automated labor

A

L

. The aim

is to minimize the human interaction with the production process.

This can be written as:

Using this equation, we could also write a simpler condition:

where

l

i

are factors that influence human and automatic labor.

So, returning to Figure 4, this “Optimized Design Efficiency” function

can be described by a function

f

design

where

t

d

is durability,

design

A

is adaptability,

c

r

is recycling conduciveness,

Nc

is the minimum

number of genre components and

L

H

is a human labor.

The Industrial Network

The industrial network refers to the basic network of physical facilities

that are directly connected to the design and database system just

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

263

described. The system connects servers, production facilities,

distribution facilities and recycling facilities. (Figure 5)

Figure 5. Industrial Network visual aid

Design Servers:

These computer servers connect the design database to the

designers/consumers, while constantly being updated with relevant

physical data to guide the process of product creation in the most

optimized and sustainable way.

As noted, the engaged CDI (or collaborative design interface)

is an open source program that facilitates collective, computer-aided

design, running each step through the set of efficiency and

sustainability filters (I.e. Figure 4) which assure optimized design.

These designs are tested in real time, digitally, and in most cases, the

good will exist in whatever state online for others to obtain, on

demand, or for use as a preliminary model by which new ideas can be

built upon.

Production Facilities:

These structures facilitate the actual manufacturing of a given design.

These would evolve as automated factories that increasingly are able

to produce more with fewer material inputs and fewer machine

configurations. Again, if the interest existed to consciously overcome

unnecessary design complexities, we can further this efficiency trend

with an ever-lower environmental impact and ever lower resource use

per task, while maximizing our abundance producing potential.

The number of production facilities, whether homogeneous or

heterogeneous, would be strategically distributed topographically

based on population statistics, no different than how grocery stores

today try to average distances between pockets of people around

neighborhoods. This is the “proximity strategy”, which will be revisited

in this essay.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

264

Distribution Facilities:

Distribution can either occur directly from the production facility,

usually in the case of an on-demand, one-off production for custom

use, or sent to a distribution library for public access in masse, based

on regional demand interest.

Some goods will be conducive to low demand, custom

production and some will not. Food is the easiest example of a mass

production necessity, while a personally tailored piece of furniture

would come directly from the manufacturing facility once created.

It is worth reiterating that regardless of whether the good is

classified to go to a library or directly to a user, this is still an 'access

system'. In other words, at any time, the user of the custom or mass

produced good can return the item for reprocessing or restocking.

Recycling Facilities:

Recycling Facilities would likely exist as part of the production facility,

allowing access to returned parts for updating and reprocessing. As

noted in the design protocol, all goods have been pre-optimized for

'conducive recycling'. The goal here is a zero-waste economy. Whether

it is a phone, a couch, a computer, a jacket, or a book, everything

goes back to a recycling facility, likely the point of origin, which will

directly reprocess any item as best it can.

Of course, an item may be returned elsewhere if needed; the

integrated and standardized production and recycling centers, having

been conceived of as a complete, compatible and holistic system,

would be able to handle returned goods optimally, as is not the case

today.

Global Resource and System Management:

These four facilities are also connected, to one degree or another, to a

Global Resource Management (GRM) network, which is a sensor and

measurement system that provides feedback and information about

the current state of raw materials and the environment.

Resource Management, Feedback & Value

As noted, this computer-aided design and engineering process does

not exist in a vacuum; it does not process designs with no input as to

the current state of the planet and its resources. Connected to the

design process, literally built into the noted “Optimize Design

Efficiency” function, is dynamic feedback from an Earth-wide

accounting system that gives data about all relevant resources that

pertain to all productions.

To whatever degree technically possible, all raw materials and

related resources are tracked and monitored, in as close to real time

as possible. This is mainly because maintaining equilibrium with the

Earth's regenerative processes, while also working strategically to

maximize the use of the most abundant materials, while minimizing

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

265

anything with emerging scarcity, is a critical efficiency calculation.

Again, this is, in part, the purpose of the Global Resource Management

system mentioned prior.

As far as “value” calculation, perhaps the two most important

measures, which will undergo constant dynamic recalculation through

feedback as industry unfolds, is the level of (a) 'scarcity' and the

degree of (b) 'labor complexity'.

(a) 'Scarcity value' can be assigned a numerical value, from 1-100. 1

would denote the most severe scarcity with respect to the current rate

of use and 100 the least severe. 50 would be the steady-state dividing

line. The scarcity value of any given resource would exist at some

value along this line, dynamically updated by the Global Resource

Management network.

Figure 6. Scarcity Rank visual aid

For example, if the use of wood passes the steady state level of 50,

which would mean consumption is currently surpassing the Earth's

natural regeneration rate, this would trigger a counter move of some

kind, such as the process of 'material substitution' or finding a

replacement for wood in any future productions.

As far as a comparative evaluation, in a market system the

price mechanism is used to decide which material is more cost

efficient, assuming a given price will have already accounted for

relevant technical information or, in this case, the issue of scarcity.

This new approach, rather than use price to compare or assess

value, accounts for a given technical quality directly by a comparative

quantification. In the case of scarcity concerns, it is best to organize

genres or groups of similar use materials and quantify, to the highest

degree possible, their related properties and degrees of efficiency for

any given purpose. Then, a general numerical value spectrum is

applied to those relationships.

For example, there is a spectrum of metals that have different

efficiencies for electrical conductivity. These efficiencies can be

physically quantified and then compared by value. So, if copper, a

conductive metal, goes below the 50 value of equilibrium regarding its

scarcity, calculations are triggered by the management program to

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

266

compare the state of other conducive materials, their scarcity level and

their efficiency level, preparing for substitution.

This is just one example and naturally this type of reasoning

would get extremely complicated depending on the material and

purpose problems posed. However, that is exactly why it is calculated

by machine, not people. The human mind, either singly or organized

into large groups, simply cannot process such data effectively. Also, it

is worth pointing out that this type of direct value calculation, based

around purpose, conduciveness and sustainability, dramatically

eclipses the price mechanism when it comes to true resource

awareness and intelligent resource management in calculation.

(b) Likewise, “labor complexity” and its assessment simply means

estimating the complexity of a given production and drawing a

numerical value based on the degree of process complexity.

Complexity, in the context of an automation-oriented industry, can be

quantified by defining and comparing the number of ‘process stages.’

Any given good production can be foreshadowed as to how many

‘stages’ of production processing it will take. It can then be compared

to other good productions, ideally in the same purpose genre, for a

quantifiable assessment. In other words, the units of measurement are

these 'stages'.

For example, a chair that can be molded in three minutes,

from simple polymers in one process, will have a lower ‘labor

complexity’ value than a chair which requires automated assembly

down a more tedious production chain, with mixed materials. In the

event a given process value is too complex or hence comparatively

inefficient in terms of what is currently possible (by comparison to an

already existing design of a similar nature), the design would be

flagged and would hence need to be re-evaluated.

Such adjustments and flagging would come in the form of

feedback from the design interface, during the design stage. There is

also no reason not to assume that with ongoing advancement in AI,

the system could actually feed back with actual suggestions or even

direct solutions to a given efficiency or sustainability problem, in real

time.

Design Calculation

Those generalizations noted, a walkthrough of this overall, linear

process is expressed below. There will be some repetition here for the

sake of clarity. If we were to look at good design in the broadest

possible way with respect to industrial unfolding, we end up with about

four functions or processes, each relating to the four dominant, linear

stages, including design, production, distribution and recycling. Again,

each of these processes is directly tied to the Global Resource

Management system that provides value feedback that assists in the

regulatory apparatus to ensure efficiency and sustainability.

The following propositions apply (Figure 1):

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

267

All Product Designs must adapt to:

1) Optimized Design Efficiency

2) Optimized Production Efficiency

3) Optimized Distribution Efficiency

4) Optimized Recycling Efficiency

Figure 1. (repeated)

1) Optimized Design Efficiency:

A product design must meet or adapt to criteria set by

[Current Efficiency Standards]

i

design

E

.

[Current Efficiency Standards] have five evaluative sub-processes, as

expressed before:

[Durability] =

t

d

[Adaptability] =

A

design

[Standardization] =

Nc

[Recycling Conduciveness] =

c

r

[Automation Conduciveness] =

L

H

Please note that further breakdown of each of these sub-

processes and logical associations can be figuratively made as well to

ever-reducing minutiae. However, as noted, this expression is the

“top” tier by which all other sub-processes are oriented. It is, again,

not the scope of this text to provide all attributes of a working

algorithm. It is also not implied here that the parameters expressed

are total or absolutely complete.

2) Optimized Production Efficiency

This filter's parameters can change based on the nature of the facilities

and how much machine variation in production (fixed automation vs.

flexible automation)

796

is required at a given time. For the purpose of

796 "Fixed automation", also known as “hard automation,” refers to an

automated production facility in which the sequence of processing

operations is fixed by the equipment configuration. It is fast but has less

variation in output design capacity. Flexible automation can create more

variation but the disadvantage is the time required to reprogram and

change over the production equipment. These terms are common to the

manufacturing and robotics industry when it comes to plant design.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

268

expression, two facility types will be distinguished: one for high

demand or mass production and one for low demand or short-run,

custom goods.

Figure 7. Dividing by low and high. Application of the class determination

process

Very simply, a class determination is made which splits

D

S

the

destination facilities based upon the nature of production

requirements. The 'high demand' target assumes fixed automation

A(a

i

)

, meaning unvaried production methods ideal for high

demand/mass production. The 'low demand' target uses flexible

automation

)),(,(

~

ic

atDtA

, which can do a variety of things but

usually in shorter runs.

Again, this schematic assumes only two types of facilities are

needed. There could be more facility types based upon production

factors, generating more splitting conditions. However, if the design

rules are respected, there shouldn’t be too much variation over time as

the intent is always to reduce and simplify.

To state the process in linear form (Figure 7):

All product designs are filtered by a [Demand Class Determination]

process. The [Demand Class Determination] process filters based on

the standards set for [Low Demand] or [High Demand]. All [Low

Consumer Demand] product designs are to be manufactured by the

[Flexible Automation] process. All [High Consumer Demand] product

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

269

designs are to be manufactured by the [Fixed Automation] process.

Also, both the manufacturing of [Low Consumer Demand] and [High

Consumer Demand] product designs will be regionally allocated as per

the [Proximity Strategy] of the manufacturing facilities.

3) Optimized Distribution Efficiency

Once process 2 is finished, the product design becomes a 'product' and

moves to the [Optimized Distribution Efficiency] filter. In short, all

products are allocated based on its prior [Demand Class

Determination]. [Low Consumer Demand] products follow the [Direct

Distribution] process. [High Consumer Demand] productions follow the

[Mass Distribution] process, which would likely be the libraries,

mentioned prior. Both the [Low Consumer Demand] and [High

Consumer Demand] product will be regionally allocated as per the

[Proximity Strategy], as before.

Figure 8. Illustration of the distribution schemes

A (left) – Direct Distribution – low demand case,

B (right) – Mass Distribution – high demand case

In the case of [Low Consumer Demand]

the distribution scheme is direct (Figure 8a). In this case the product

goes directly to the consumer without the help of network

intermediaries.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

270

In the case of [High Consumer Demand]

the distribution scheme is mass (Figure 8b). In this case the product

goes to intermediary facilities, such as libraries

D

i

to engage the

potential consumers

€

C

i

.

Similar to the production efficiency considerations, in the case of

'Distribution Efficiency'

dist

E

, for the low and high demand, the

distribution process will be optimized in terms of the distance

dist

d

to the existing facilities. In this case the facilities are places in regional

distribution (libraries), based on the level of demand in the given

region. (i.e. Proximity Strategy

d

p

).

4) Optimized Recycling Efficiency

After distribution, the product then goes through its life-cycle. Once its

life-cycle ends, the product becomes "void” and moves to process #4,

or the [Optimized Recycling Efficiency] filter. In short, all voided

products will follow the current [Regenerative Protocol]

reg

P

. This

protocol embraces the standards employed at that time to ensure the

optimized reuse or reincorporation of any given good or component.

Naturally, the sub-processes of this are vast and complex and it is the

role of engineers, embracing natural law physics, to best understand

exactly what parameters will be set.

The Domestic Economy

The prior schematic regarding sustainable and technically efficient

processes, optimized dynamically to gain the most stability and

maximize the potential of any given economic operation, is both

extremely complex in detail and deceptively simple in theory.

The tedium of creating a complete, industry-orienting

algorithm that serves as the natural law regulatory filter, by which

humanity can assure the most optimized technical practices, is

certainly a major intellectual project to undertake, once again. The

sub-processes inherent to such a multidimensional calculation would

run into the thousands, for sure.

Yet, at the same time, the unfolding of the overall process is

quite elegant in form. The idea of placing each human, if interested, at

the helm of industrial creation, facilitating the “group mind” interaction

for problem solving and creation, contains a deeply unifying

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

271

community gesture, coupled with a kind of personal freedom of

expression in the creative process which has not been seen before.

The very notion of extremely versatile, on-demand production

systems which can produce a good for a single person or goods for an

entire cultural demographic, is profound in its implications, not to

mention the vast positive outcomes inherent when it comes to creating

a more peaceful, humane society.

Given the technological trends, it is not far-fetched to imagine

a small town which, just as it may today have an electrical grid which

unifies that town in its central source of power, now has a production

plant network designed to literally create most everything that town

may need, on demand. Raw resources are brought into the plant as

per conditions and allocation algorithms surrounding the “global

resource management system”, which connects all such economic

facilities both regionally and globally.

Yet, within this scenario, the role of the human being is often

confused. While the pursuit of post-scarcity in this way will create a

sustainable and abundance generating paradigm where people can live

without the burden of “working for a living”, the debate over “what will

people do?” is a question that often arises, along with another

inevitable question: “Who is running the machines for no pay!?”

The first question gets to the heart of human values. People

have always found interesting things to do and explore, and it is

severely doubted that an era of boredom would arise given that people

would no longer need to fight just to live a high quality life. Rather,

people might very well be elevated to a new type of existence and

engage in higher order interests that were simply unattainable in the

prior model.

The second question is more interesting. In an automated

economy, which strategically works to remove humans from any kind

of monotonous, difficult or unsafe labor, there will still be some basic

need for oversight and management. For many who shun post-scarcity

rhetoric, this fallback is common, arguing that only in a 100%

automated utopia, where people literally have no obligation, would the

society be possible. Otherwise, some sub-culture will be required to do

the remaining labor and hence some kind of stratified oppression

would be inherent.

The problem with this assumption is that it is deeply locked

into a market-oriented worldview where time is equated to money.

People today have a knee-jerk reaction to assume that in order for

anything to actually get done, money must be in play as an incentive.

Yet, statistically, this is simply untrue. In a 1992 Gallup Poll,

more than 50% of American adults (94 million Americans) volunteered

time for social causes, at an average of 4.2 hours a week, for a total of

20.5 billion hours a year.

797

A more recent poll in December 2013

797 Source: Giving and Volunteering in the United States: Findings from a

National Survey, Hodgkinson & Weitzman, 1992, p2

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

272

showed a steady increase in volunteering from 2001 until 2013.

798

Figures from 2008 in the US also showed an increase in non-religious

volunteering, underlining the point that social contributions can exist

for their own sake, as well as for religious reasons, and during great

economic difficulties.

799

The truth of the matter is that human beings,

even in the highly competitive and materialistic orientation of the

United States, still decide to do a great deal without an interest in

monetary reward.

Open source programming is another example. Linux, which

started in 1991 as a simple experiment, was able to complete its

community-driven, almost moneyless programming development in

just three years. Linux has over 10,000 lines of code and the vast

amount of its creation was done for free by a global community.

Wikipedia is yet another example of a non-profit, community

generated creation, research and expression. It has been estimated

that Wikipedia took 100 million hours of volunteer time to create, and

features a technically advanced and complex backend, demonstrating

that well-engineered interrelating systems, when leveraged with large

volunteer efforts, can create world-first systems previously considered

unrealistic or unfeasible.

So, while money still rules the overall motivation in the current

society, given some free time, people have proven they will contribute

greatly to projects which have no monetary return and the real issue

underlying the motivation of such labor is the satisfaction and the

feeling of contribution. Today, most jobs do not generate this feeling.

Most people walk into a private dictatorship five days a week and are

under the control of superiors, knowing they can be fired at any

moment.

The contribution they make rarely has a direct return to them

and the feeling of accomplishment is diminished. Some jobs might

even make one wonder what the point of the occupation even is in the

context of social contribution or personal development. Many jobs

exist today simply for the sake of generating or moving money and

nothing more. Advertising and Wall Street occupations, for example,

are examples of high value occupations which, in truth, do very little

to improve society.

This perhaps might explain the “lazy” tendency many feel once

off their job at the end of the day, returning home feeling defeated

and tired. Over time, many lose spirit and motivation overall and find

that their job becomes the only thing that is supposed to have

meaning in their life, forgetting the enjoyable passions once inherent

to their development.

798 Source: Most Americans Practice Charitable Giving, Volunteerism

(http://www.gallup.com/poll/166250/americans-practice-charitable-giving-

volunteerism.aspx)

799 Reference: Despite Economy, Charitable Donors, Volunteers Keep Giving

(http://www.gallup.com/poll/113497/despite-economy-charitable-donors-

volunteers-keep-giving.aspx)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

273

That considered, in a fully realized NLRBE, it is estimated that

perhaps 5% of a region's population (5% of the global population as

well), on average, would be needed to assist the fluid operation of this

industrial system and this figure would likely continually diminish in

the future as technology advances. This participation might best be

expressed in the form of what has been termed the “domestic”

economy. The domestic economy embodies the helpful actions of

people in a non-paid environment. Household work, family and

community interests are traditional examples.

In a NLRBE, such labor would be relegated in the same gesture

and the delegation of such labor roles could be distributed amongst a

large-scale population making the actual time commitment miniscule

overall. Even by current standards, if one were to ask the average

worker if they would be willing to live, say, the equivalence of a

$100,000 a year lifestyle, but having to volunteer 5% of their time for

maintenance of the system that supports their standard of living, there

is little doubt agreement would be met by most. The amount of time

saved alone in this type of socioeconomic model, coupled again with

the vast problem alleviation of the environmental problems and social

conflicts inherent to the market, leave little room for rational

objection.

Likewise, once set free, the creative, collaborative contribution

propensity itself, which is the true driver of progress, will no longer be

inhibited by the monotony of labor or the income system. It is very

difficult to predict the incredible level of productivity and focus a

society may achieve once such oppressive factors are removed.

The Decentralization Paradox

While the rhetoric of a global society with global values underscores

this socioeconomic model, it is important to understand the nature of

its redundancy and its decentralized layout. John Dalberg-Acton, 1st

Baron Acton, once stated "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power

corrupts absolutely”.

800

This power-fearing perspective is certainly well

justified in history and many who hear about a NLRBE often assume

this global society is “ruled” by one mainframe, one machine, an elite

group of technocrats or something similar.

It is important to remind ourselves that almost all prior

societies have lived within great scarcity and hence great conflict. This,

coupled with the fact that money and resources have been a means to

gain power - usually after a good deal of battle, reinforcing a status

and dominance hierarchy - illustrates that we should not be surprised

at these reactions. However, this statement is also deeply counter-

productive on the whole as it gives the paranoid sense that no one can

ever be trusted, if they are given any type of control over others.

A NLRBE is, indeed, a global structure in how it processes

800 John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834–1902). The

historian and moralist, who was otherwise known simply as Lord Acton,

expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

274

economic information and assesses output possibilities. Once a good is

designed, it runs through the aforementioned efficiency and

sustainability filters, which invariably tie back to the status of global

resources, along with a global network for design contribution. At the

same time, larger order societal decisions, meaning those decisions

once made by elected representatives, are also achieved by consensus

by the population, directly.

The only real centralization inherent is this digital network

connecting the world itself. Given that, we could consider a few

possible problems in this circumstance in the same way we think about

the Internet today, which is essentially the same infrastructure.

“Hacking”, for example, which is the act of disturbing, stealing or

corrupting a program or digital information by invading the source

code, might be a concern.

However, we have to first ask why anyone would perform such

an act in the new model. Since the entire system is designed to

provide for everyone, where is the incentive to disturb it? Anyone

shutting down such a system is also shutting down their means to

contribute and develop. An analogy would be a person today living in

an apartment building, where everyone shares the utility

infrastructure, deciding to destroy the fuse or electrical breaker box

which divides the incoming electricity to power the whole apartment

building. Why would they do it if it shuts down their own electricity as

well?

It is important to review why people can be so vicious today.

Anger is bred by deprivation and some external act is often interpreted

as the source of this abuse. So, in retribution, people today “hack” and

violate websites and the like to either make a protest point or to get

revenge.

801

In a NLRBE, it is hard to fathom where the source of such

angst and outrage would materialize. If a person doesn't like the way

the system is working in a specific way, they have the capacity to

change it by assessing consensus with others. The system is

emergent.

However, in the event that this did happen, there is a simple

solution: active redundancy. In a monetary-driven society, based

around cost efficiency, we see little fail-safe redundancy in place as it

is unaffordable. For example, we see an airplane with two engines and

both are needed to fly. Why not create an airplane with two main

engines and two back-up engines, which are not running when the full

plane is in working order, but in the event an engine fails, another

engine is able to take over.

The main server network which facilitates social connectivity

and unification could have 5,6,7...20 levels of redundancy and

automatic backup in the event anything went down. It might not be

perfect. Some data may be lost. However, again, this isn't a utopia.

801 An example would the group known as “Anonymous”, which is a loosely

associated international network of “hacktivist” entities that disrupt websites

and computer databases as a form of protest.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

275

With respect to who has the “power” to notice the problem and

implement this redundancy, technical teams exist to monitor the

network, just like any other existing vocation.

Of course, the question then arises: what if someone on the

technical team is corrupted and purposefully messes up the system?

Once again, the counter question is: why would they do it? What is the

incentive? In the event this did happen, it would not take long for

others to notice and the system could be corrected in the same

semblance of redundancy, with the person removed. That person

would then be questioned by his or her peers and society overall to

better understand why this act occurred.

802

Overall, we trustfully give ourselves over to “authority” all the

time. Doctors, mechanics, and any other specialization always involve

a level of trust by those seeking such help, and most of the time, even

in a monetary society which generates dishonesty, people are mostly

honest, or as honest as they can be, the majority of the time. It is

simply too cynical to assume that any allocation of control is

dangerous. At no time in human history have we not shared some

level of delegated power responsibility to each other, and in almost all

cases, as with dentistry or mechanics, the nature of the "power"

delegated in question is characterized by its technical merit; precisely

the kind of oversight advocated within the present context.

In a NLRBE, the reinforcement is to help oneself, which means

to help society, not to exploit or abuse. There is literally no reward

reinforcement for such negative behavior, as opposed to the natural

state of general corruption we endure today.

As far as the physical network itself, it is decentralized in its

orientation in many ways, often more so than we see today. The

topographic layout of Earth makes many things logically obvious as far

as structure placement. People, being social, naturally have an interest

to have some kind of community centralization; the existence of

certain energy providing areas, such as for

solar/wind/geothermal/hydro, carve out their own locations logically;

extraction, production and distribution networks also have a

topographical logic inherent as efficiency mandates we keep such

facilitates as close to each other as possible, reducing energy waste

and transport; etc.

Cities themselves will change in two major ways. For one, the

construction and networking of the internal city system will seek to

meet the highest state of technical efficiency possible, including

sustainable infrastructure, homes, production/distribution networks

and the like, taking the systems basis into direct account.

803

Secondly,

802 The subject of “enforcement” and how such an act is dealt with, will be

talked about in the essay Lifestyle, Freedom and The Humanity Factor

803 The design work of Jacque Fresco, specifically his city system concepts, is a

good example of this reasoning.

Ref: Jacque Fresco, The Best That Money Can't Buy, Global Cybervisions,

2002, Chapter 15

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

276

it is expected that due to the evolution of ephemeralization, a given

city will produce all regional goods locally. Management of the city on

the level of broad infrastructure, such as where to put a bridge, will

also be a regional decision making process, set in motion by the direct

democracy, CDS system. Land allocation works the same way, even

though that is a larger subject, which is addressed in the essay “Post-

Scarcity Trends, Capacity and Efficiency”.

Of course, each city naturally connects to other cities, ideally

with advanced transport systems, which can cleanly and fluidly move

people. Maglev type trains systems are on pace to be the next stage of

fast, safe and efficient transport with little to no environmental

footprint, as compared to oil-powered planes, buses and cars.

804

As for as the “engine” of a city, which is its industry, digital

networks and sensor systems work to gather important regional and

non-regional data. This relates to the “global resource management”

network as described before and both regional and global networks of

measurements allow all cities/citizens to have a holistic sense of what

is going on, affecting production and other important environmental

factors.

805

So, this network might very well be “centralized” in its data

and raw resource flow to a city's internal production facilities, but it is

decentralized in that a city imports nothing else. It is mostly self-

contained. All productions occur internally, importing and exporting no

produced goods, only resources. This idea of “self-containment per

scale degree”

806

is important and even applies towards structures,

such as houses. The ideal house would be off-the-grid and self-

contained in its energy sourcing and with redundant backup energy

sources in place should anything become compromised.

Put another way, there is no central “off switch” in such a

natural redundancy based system. For example, if a base-load

providing power grid is being used and that grid goes down, it would

have little effect on houses if those houses are also designed to

harvest local energy sources (i.e. solar) and hence be self-contained.

Likewise, no one thing can upset the international system. Unlike

804 “Maglev” transport uses less energy and moves substantially faster than

commercial airlines and can also be used as local transport systems within a

city. ET3 is a company currently working on this technology.

http://www.et3.com/ Otherwise, the use of extremely safe, driverless cars

would serve other transportation needs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/science/10google.html?pagewanted=

all&_r=0

805 Such sensor technology and system networks have already been

hypothesized and are slowly making their way into certain facets of society.

The task is simply to scale it out. HP has introduced an idea for what it calls

a "A Central Nervous System for the Earth". http://hbr.org/web/2009/hbr-

list/central-nervous-system-for-earth

806 To clarify “per scale degree” - this simply means smaller and larger order

systems, with the smaller inside the larger. For example, a house is one

degree, while the city that contains the house is a larger degree.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

277

modern monetary finance and currency structures, which are highly

centralized and can wreak havoc globally if things go wrong, a problem

in one city has little effect on any other city in a NLRBE.

So, in truth, a properly organized NLRBE is not centralized in

any real sense. It is more accurate to say that it is a global

decentralized system, with various degrees of inherent redundancy,

which, degree by degree, connects itself by information flow and

physical channels to acquire proper resources, to be used for each

region's local economy.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

278

-LIFESTYLE, FREEDOM AND THE HUMANITY FACTOR-

Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.

807

-Epictetus

What is happiness?

It is difficult for most in the world today to imagine a society without

the duress and daily strife endured by the act of simply trying to

survive and keep a healthy mental and physical state. So much of our

lives today is centered around staying financially ahead and making

sure we have enough money for today, tomorrow, our family and even

perhaps for the next familial generation, we often lose sight of what it

is that actually creates well-being and happiness.

In fact, this fear and often predatory motivation has created a

social climate that has even generated a positive value association

toward narrow, self-interested behavior. While the line is always

subjective as to what behaviors are to be considered “ethical” or not,

the competitive, scarcity-driven orientation toward gaining an

acceptable quality of life continually reinforces our lower brain, “fight-

or-flight” propensities, perpetuating a constant sense of social

detachment and general loss of empathy for others. In many ways,

money itself has even become the reward and status standard, not

what it can do with its potential to move the world.

Therefore, given these values, it is always a challenge to

discuss a NLRBE's non-market premise with the vast majority of those

in modern culture, as certain knee-jerk contradictory assumptions

almost always prevail. It is not the purpose of this essay to address

these in detail but to denote how communication of a future lifestyle

not based on these now long-sustained values is difficult, as the idea

of existence without such strife is almost impossible for many, due to

our history.

Merging Society and Individuality

Ayn Rand and other famous authors and theorists in the 20

th

century

spent a great deal of time talking about a duality between self-interest

and social interest, or individualism and collectivism.

808

In these

works, whether in fiction-based literary form or in actual economic

treatment, rarely is consideration given to a possible balance between

the two.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “Communism forgets that life

is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of

807 Source: quote-wise.com (http://www.quote-wise.com/quotes/epictetus/is-

freedom-anything-else-than-the-right-to-li)

808 Ayn Rand's famous novel “Anthem” is a notable, influential example of this

artistic culmination of values. It takes place in a dystopian future where

mankind has entered another dark age characterized by irrationality,

collectivism, and socialistic thinking and economics. The concept of

individuality has been eliminated. For example, the use of the word "I" is

punishable by death.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

279

brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the

antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher

synthesis that combines the truths of both.”

809

There is no denying that human beings have evolved with a

deeply social nature. It could be argued that what really defines us are

the relationships we have created in our lives, not to mention the vast

influence of cultural development itself, which is the main source of

most value orientations at any given time in any given society.

Yet, at the same time, we cannot deny the personal

development needs, freedom of expression sought and general

independence most all humans tend to need to feel in their day-to-day

lives. While the notion of “free will” might be highly complex in

analysis, there appears to always be a part of us that navigates based

on what we consider to be “choice” and if we feel oppression of that

choice, it tends to upset us and destabilize.

So, while it is true that when the synergy of the total life

experience is brought into focus we can well argue that all of our

choices exist under some level of duress, influence or impulse and

hence are actually not entirely “free”, we cannot ignore the emotional

interest we tend to have in perceiving ourselves as separate,

independent and individual in some way. True or not, the very idea of

free determination appears critical to personal development,

confidence and wellbeing.

This is brought up, as perhaps the most important sociological

outcome of a NLRBE is something historically unprecedented on a

large scale in the history of human society. Today, we have the

technological means to not only bring all human beings into a high

standard of living due to the rapid advancement of technology and

basic understandings in science, we also have the ability to structurally

rationalize ourselves as being actually responsible to each other and

the Earth itself.

The market system has been unable to reinforce this sense of

community or harmony with the habitat because its very foundation

works against both as a value or virtue. The Earth, in the market

model, is viewed as an inventory of resources waiting for financial

exploitation and the more goods in service, the more money is made

and hence more jobs are created. Likewise, perpetual human

oppression has been a natural byproduct of the underlying Malthusian,

scarcity-based orientation, since the dawn of existence.

This old system, which is a natural consequence of this

scarcity-driven order, worked well during primitive periods where our

impact on the Earth and how much damage we could do to each other

had “acceptable” limits, if you will. The larger structural problems

inherent simply could not be understood at that time. However, today

809 From “Where Do We Go From Here?,” Delivered at the 11th Annual SCLC

Convention Atlanta, Ga., 1967 (http://mlk-

kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/where_do_we

_go_from_here_delivered_at_the_11th_annual_sclc_convention/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

280

the market has revealed itself as no longer a method towards

sustainability or a means for intelligent resource management and it

also creates a constant propensity to view other human beings as

threats to one's own survival.

On the social level, the entire edifice justifies a zero-sum

game. Two people going into a coveted job interview for the same job

may be respectful to each other, but they both know only one of them

will get the job. This fear-based competitive nuance runs the gamut of

societal affairs from justifying massive wealth gaps and class

imbalance in the developed world to the overall ignoring of mass

poverty and the genocide it is in the developing world.

A NLRBE, on the other hand, structurally combines societal

interest with personal interest and environmental interest. Its

functioning is directly tied to the resources and environment, actually

rewarding sustainability and efficiency. Likewise, there is no gain to be

had by the exploitation of others or behaving in the dishonest and

corrupt ways we tend to accept as normality. Theft, crime, fraud and

all structural outcomes common to the scarcity-based market, will no

longer have any real incentive as the entire society is oriented to serve

itself, and harming others only harms one's self.

For example, an enormous number of laws exist today that

protect one's private property. People might be motivated to steal for

a number of reasons, but statistically a lack of means, general

deprivation and hence relative or absolute poverty, is the common

precondition. When people steal physical goods, they are usually

stealing exchange value in most cases. In a NLRBE there is no

exchange value and hence to “steal” an item that cannot be sold is

mostly pointless.

Likewise, a common objection is that if goods were available

without price, there is no restriction on taking vastly more than one

needs. Once again, we need to consider the reason for such an action.

Since the same goods cannot be sold, they would simply exist in

another place, perhaps even inconveniencing the person who took

them. What is one to do with, say, 200 televisions? Why would

someone take five times the amount of food needed if they cannot eat

it all and it will go to waste?

From an ethical standpoint, which is often seen as culturally

subjective, we see a great number of customs in society today based

upon what is considered “appropriate”. When a person walks down the

street and litters on the ground, anyone watching would likely not

applaud such behavior. In regions where water or electricity is paid for

with a flat rate, people do not just let the water run all day long or

keep lights on constantly, simply because they don't need to care,

financially. There has always been a general social and environmental

sense of responsibility under the surface of the current zeitgeist and a

NLRBE will finally amplify these same responsible propensities to a

vast degree, rather than incentivize their suppression, which is what

the current system does.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

281

Humanity Factor & Access Rights

Still, while a NLRBE will set in motion, for the first time in history, a

kind of economic and social premise that reinforces sustainability,

human solidarity, empathy and sharing on a global scale, working to

literally unite the human family with common concern, there will

always be problems of some kind, including behavioral.

There is an unpredictable element to human development. The

great many and complex environmental and biological influences,

which create our personalized form, comprehension and propensities,

can be difficult to understand in causality to any degree of absolutism.

We simply cannot account for all relevant factors. While a great deal

has been learned about human influences and how certain things

should and should not happen to a person during development, as

they have statistically predictable consequences with respect to

behavior, there is always a possibility of things going wrong that are

out of a family or society's control.

810

We can call this the “humanity

factor”.

The current social order, which is, again, literally built out of

the market-oriented, scarcity-driven, competitive premise of economy,

has an enormous legal apparatus to control human behavior. In the

new approach, we could likely expect a 90-95% decrease in such

“criminal” acts since the vast majority of “crime” has to do with

money, trade and property. These very ideas are no longer relevant in

this post-scarcity model for there is no basis for those problems in

general. They have been designed out.

However, this “humanity factor” can still generate unexpected

circumstances and problems that require a socially accepted course of

action. A simple example is mental illness, which can develop slowly

over time and unexpectedly. It is a medical problem and must be

treated as such. A volunteer group working to help those sick in the

behavioral context would need to be in place, no different than those

who work in any other facet of societal maintenance. However, this

team would be a vast departure from the crude idea of “police” and

“security” we see today. Likewise, there are certainly no prisons

existing to incur inhumane treatment and punishment.

811

Even in the case of “crimes of passion” or the like, the worst

scenario is containment if the individual is unable to control destructive

actions. Just as we might quarantine a person with a highly

contagious, infectious disease if it were a serious threat, the logic to

810 The essays The Final Argument: Human Nature and Defining Public Health

are suggested for review.

811 This may sound like a utopian step for a society in the current climate, but

this trend can actually be observed embryonically in some societies today,

such as in the Netherlands and Sweden, where prisons are being closed

down due to exceptionally low crime rates. Reference:

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/dec/01/why-sweden-closing-

prisons & The Netherlands:

http://jcjusticecenter.com/2013/09/14/netherlands-closing-19-prisons-due-

to-lack-of-criminals/

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

282

contain people who pose behavioral threats to others would suggest a

similar scenario - only this containment would be humane and for the

sake of research. Whether biological or developmental, all aberrant

behaviors have a source of some kind and as complex as they may be,

only further study can work to source solutions.

On a more moderate level, such as the case of adolescent kids

who, in the common discovery and rebellious stage of development,

act in socially offensive ways in experimentation, a different kind of

understanding is culminated where the community can come together

to assess the nature of the problem and work to deter the behavior as

a community. Just as minors are treated in the Western world today,

given non-criminal condemnation in most cases, the same type of

community assessment can be provided, which will likely come natural

to any family or local region.

However, in some cases, there might be a need for a type of

rights system when dealing with accessed goods. In other words, a

simple rule system of some kind might be useful, centered not on

property rights but access rights.

Imagine a scenario where an individual parks his or her bike

on a street, without a lock, entering a house. This bike was checked

out of a local distribution library for the person's use. Then, a

bystander, who is in a hurry, not close to a distribution library, sees

this bike and makes an inappropriate decision to take the bike to get

where he needs to go. This is a dishonest and rude act.

In a property system, this would be called “theft”. In an access

system it might take a different term, such as an “access violation”.

The severity of the action is very different and it is more of an

annoyance than a crime. In a property system the bike would likely be

sold for money or kept. In an access system, the original user would

simply obtain a new bike and move on, inconvenienced, while the

person who took the bike would likely just drop it off after use, as

there is no resale value and hence no real reason to keep it.

Yet, it doesn't mean the act should be ignored and go

unnoticed in its access violation, as such behavior, as rare as it likely

would be, would need acknowledgment to serve as a form of operant

education. It is no different than how people today learn basic

decency, respect and etiquette. Therefore, rather than property rights,

a simple access rights rule could be installed to deter such behavior. In

other words, any person obtaining items through the system would

have access rights to those items for the duration of use and if another

comes and takes those items, it is an offense. Reinforcement to deter

such future acts would first be warnings. If persisted over time, it

could mean a temporary limitation of future access in some genre for

that offending person.

In reality, it could be considered a “slap on the wrist” for

essentially being annoying and rude. However, if a person were to

repeat this over and over, it might take on the role of mental illness,

as something of an impulsive behavior disorder and that medical

context might come into play at that time. But once again, this type of

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

283

behavior would be extremely rare and if far from a serious concern.

However, such possible measures should be understood, as this isn't a

utopia. It should also be noted that technical resolutions are always

sought after as the primary prevention strategy to design out any such

problems.

Crisis management is another issue. Just as we have a

volunteer fire department in most cities in America, who live their

normal lives until they get the call for an emergency, this same

approach can work for natural disasters or acts of extreme behavior,

such as behavioral violence. In the case of an earthquake, flood,

tornado or the like, each case would naturally have a plan in place by

the society to assure proper handling. This preparation can cross

regional lines as well, with contingency plans agreed upon on the

global level to know how the rest of the world may help if a given

region has a severe problem. This is actually similar to how the

international community works to help in crises even today, when such

problems occur.

Overall, we can speculate on all these ideas and problem-

solving measures to a vast degree, but the underlying precondition set

in motion by the NLRBE, will dramatically reduce the commonality and

severity of each issue and that is important to remember. For

example, buildings constructed in regions susceptible to earthquakes

will be made to withstand them as best they can. This is very difficult

in the current world due to the associated financial costs as the

revisions deeply needed are great. Such impediments will no longer

exist and proper, technically accurate construction and infrastructure

can be made to assure the least amount of damage in the event of

such a natural disaster.

Lifestyle

As technology unfolds and scientific understanding evolves, culture

changes. This has been the trend of history. With the exponential

development of information-based technologies and hence the applied

technology that then emerges, each generation develops new values,

associations, means and expressions. Let's imagine waking up one

morning in a NLRBE - a day in the life:

You rise to a generally quiet hum of mild traffic, with maglev

trains whisking about the city. Having a love for high views, you get

out of bed on the 20

th

storey of a simple yet elegant, mold-extruded

apartment complex that converts all sunlight into energy through

photovoltaic paints on its outer shell. You have a fleeting moment of

marveling at this reality as the sun bursts through the windows,

forcing increased alertness out of your early morning stupor.

As you emerge, you are also reminded of your cousin having

taken part in that global, university driven initiative about two decades

ago, which sought to perfect this paint technology to a degree of

efficiency never before seen. In just a few years of collaboration, this

PV paint achieved 90% energy efficiency, making it workable in almost

any structure. You remember the joy and satisfaction your cousin felt

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

284

when his team was on the front lines when this breakthrough for

humanity was achieved. It was like the elation felt amongst soccer

teammates after a goal has been scored.

Slowly gaining focus as your pupils find balance with the

invading light, you glance out of the window and notice an enormous

machine, suspended from a crane of sorts, slowly adding a new

section to the very building structure you are a part of. Almost like

magic, the machine is able to form, from what first appears like a kind

of liquid plastic, a new apartment configuration and appends that form

onto the existing structure. Quietly, safely and oddly with very few

parts, there is no technician in sight, even though likely someone is

monitoring the process from somewhere. Blinking and scanning sensor

lights on the huge machine appear to suggest that it understands

everything about the surrounding area and what it needs to do.

Glancing further around the city's skyline, there is an

immediate sense of synergy with nature. The city has no awkward

concentrations or imbalance. The slick transport systems that zoom

by, which are high-tech indeed, seem to merge seamlessly with the

greenery, lakes and canals. Suddenly, a picture on the wall next to the

window catches your eye. It is an old archival shot of almost the same

perspective, but taken many, many decades before, during what

modern folk now call the “last dark age”.

In this shot a sense of tension, congestion and strife is felt. A

long stream of automobiles is seen on a strip of crude concrete

highway backing up all the way out of frame. You remember from your

history education years ago that back then a monetary practice

created great duress and discord, with people piling into cities to gain

employment and hence to gain the money, in order buy things and

survive. You then think of how things have changed indeed, feeling

rather sorry for that primitive culture and happy you were born when

you were. Of course, realizing that you too live in a fleeting era as

time marches on, you further try to imagine what aspects of your life

today will one day be considered outdated in the future.

Feeling hungry, you enter into the apartment's kitchen. It is a

fairly new design you hadn't seen before. While the systems concept

and the interest to combine and unify industrial design was mentioned

prolifically in your educational materials as an engineering student,

you notice the advanced degree of efficiency now achieved. The

kitchen is one unit. The dishes and ware are designed for the washing

and placement process, which is directly built in. Once a plate is dirty,

it is set into a compartment that already understands the nature of the

pre-designed plate and processes the plate with a kind of cleansing

steam and a UV configuration that also sterilizes it. Automatically, the

plate is then returned to the proper disperser location in the shelf for

the next use. It was as though the kitchen was one big, unified

machine.

However, checking the refrigerator, you realize you have

forgotten to pick up provisions for your short stay. You ponder

whether to do go down to the lower level to pick up such provisions

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

285

and come back, but you decide it is time to get going and you will grab

something at a café on the way. As you exit the apartment, you swipe

the access key into the control panel to confirm your final exit and

then glance at the control panel to find the “clean” button. After a bit

of frustration, you finally realize the apartment has been designed with

a time-based motion sensor system to clean itself automatically when

no motion is detected.

You then notice the CF6 robot in the corner and take pause as

to the amazing technical feat it is to have this robot understand the

exact nature of the space, where things belong and where they do not,

all programmed with absolute 3D spatial awareness of the apartment

to clean and arrange. It is hard for you to imagine what it must have

been like to maintain such daily drudgery generations prior.

Exiting the apartment, which is actually a temporary access

location you “rented” through an online service, you then enter the

hallways and almost collide with a fast moving older man who drops a

small laptop. You realize he is one of the managers of the apartment

complex. You help him pick it up and he apologizes profusely. “Very

sorry!” he exclaims. “We have a problem with the CF6 on level 12 and

I need to reboot him!” “Good thing we always have a few backups for

each room!”

You thank him kindly for his well-kept place and continue on

your way, with a brief reflection back to that historical photo in the

room you just left. Long ago, people's sense of contribution was

always associated to money. They had jobs, as they were called.

Today, people's vocation is a matter of choice, facilitated also by a

basic sense of social responsibility. Our society is designed to take care

of us as one, so why should we not take care of society itself in return?

The man who passed you maintains that building because he enjoys

helping others and since he, himself, only needs to work a few hours a

week at this role, he views his volunteer time as valuable and without

burden, happily assisting others who very much appreciate the

contribution. It makes him feel like he is more a part of the

community.

Exiting the building, the street is bustling with motion. You

notice an artsy looking, retro French café on the corner and laugh to

yourself at the pointless, yet cute nostalgia. You enter and sit at a

small corner table, smiling politely at the family across the way.

Realizing you are running out of time since you have to catch a train to

attend a conference a couple hundred miles away, you tap a simple

order into the kiosk menu in the center of the table. Tea and waffles.

Once submitted you can't help but notice a mild vibration occurring

behind your head.

Since your grandfather was an engineer who helped design the

original automated kitchen system, this is curious to you as the usual

tradition was to put the processing facility above and center in the

space. It appears there was some restriction in this narrow area so

they hid it to the side. About two minutes later, a red light appears on

the table to alert you that your order is ready. A glass door opens that

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

286

is perpendicular to the table-top and a conveyor extends to reveal

your tea and waffles. You grab the tray and rush to finish in the hope

not to miss your train. Once done, you slide the tray back into the

opening and it closes for cleaning.

As you exit the café, you can't help but notice a decal with the

silhouette of a female form with a tray, bending over what looks like a

table. At first the image confuses you and then you remember that at

one time in history people were slaves to others in this very way.

Before the automated restaurant, people actually wasted their

potential by waiting on each other and manually bringing food and

taking orders. Once again, you are happy you were born when you

were.

Emerging back outside you realize you have a fairly long walk.

Pondering jumping on the maglev trolley, which constantly circles

about the city like a giant worm, you decide it is probably going to be

too slow. So, you make your way to the street parallel, which is where

the automated cars zoom around in their custom paths. Pulling out

your cell phone, which has a special application linked to the region's

transport system, a white cab quickly notices your call and stops on

the corner. You enter the front of the cab and verbally describe the

address. A voice confirms your request and you are off.

Arriving at the train station, you exit the cab and begin to

make your way. Gliding along you notice a person with a very large

bag next to you, strolling it along. This perplexes you. It appears so

arduous and unnecessary. You ask yourself why anyone would need

such a large bag when the basic things everyone needs can be found

in any city in the world, on demand. The idea of luggage seemed

awkward and strange. Yet, before you have a moment to ponder this

any further, the man in front of you suddenly collapses to the ground.

Instantly a large crowd begins to form to see if they can assist.

Being the closest to him, you notice the characteristics appear to be of

a heart attack. While extremely rare in the world at that time, they still

occasionally occur. Pulling out your phone you text emergency number

331 with the word 'medical'. This sends instant notification of an

emergency to a local team of volunteers trained in medical practice,

along with the location via GPS. Within minutes a team arrives and

works to save the man's life. With the man still breathing, he is placed

into an automated emergency vehicle, which zooms off to the local

hospital. Concerned about the fate of the poor man, you collect

yourself and continue on, even more late than before.

Finally making it to your train, you enter and sit. Within

moments the doors close and you breathe a sigh of relief. In your seat

is an entertainment center with has on demand media. As the train

begins to accelerate, you suddenly remember that your nephew

produced a feature film about whale migration recently, but you can't

remember the name. Given this media center has a link to literally all

media ever produced in human history, digitized and contained in one

accessible database, you balk at the idea of searching for it amongst

the millions of films.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

287

Then, it comes to you! So, you enter the title and there it is. However,

your remember your trip is only about 275 miles so you know you

won't get far as this maglev train goes about 3000 mph. You will be

lucky if you get 8 minutes into the film. So, rather than spoil the

experience, you decide to go over some notes you brought for the

conference. The subject of the conference is terraformation. Great

interest is being shown by humanity to further explore the idea of

inhabiting space, and this conference will address the potentials

currently available.

However, before too much thought can be done, you arrive at

your destination. You exit the train and enter the station. You realize

you need some equipment for some program work that will be

addressed at the conference, so you make your way to the local

technology library. You need a versatile laptop and a series of storage

cards to bring your notes and work with you after it is done. You enter

the library and feel a buzz on your phone. You pull it out and a curious

notification welcomes you to that region's technology center and asks

if you need search assistance.

This perplexes you at first but then you remember that the

library network in that region has recently been updated to allow for a

universal recognition system, facilitated by a phone application you

had installed prior, while using another library in the same region

years ago. You had forgotten about this. “How convenient!” you think.

You describe the laptop and memory cards and it returns the product

profiles. You find that it is correct. Once confirmed, a visual map of the

library appears that shows your location and the location of the area

with the goods you need. You navigate to that area and check out the

items. Then, you exit the library, retrieve an automated cab, and you

are off to the conference.

A number of hours later the conference ends. You are inspired,

exhausted and hungry, having forgotten to eat most of the day. You

decide an Italian style meal sounds good. Luckily, you notice just such

a restaurant a few blocks down and start walking. Your phone rings. It

is an associate from your hometown. He states there is a problem with

one of the food production manifolds and he is unable to respond due

to his own personal emergency. You state you will go online and check

the system status and get back to him.

You quickly enter the Italian restaurant and take a seat at a

small table. It is a pretty busy night so it is noisier than you would

prefer. You whip out the laptop, which has a satellite-based Internet

connection at all times, and navigate to your region's technical

mainframe to check for status errors. Sure enough, there is a power

problem in sector five of the automated vertical farm structure in the

northeast region. You bring up a digital image of the physical layout,

which, by a kind of color-coding, reveals a severed cable line to a

power converter. Having seen this problem before, since you have

been overseeing your region's food production for about eight years,

you gain a sense of relief, as the problem is very simple to fix.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

288

With a few keystrokes, a CR9 modular robot is now under your control

in the farm. Through this remote control ability you are able to guide

the machine to the problem area and explain the issue. This robot, like

the one in the apartment rental you had prior, has a complete

understanding of all physical and technical systems in the operation. A

3D model of the plant and its infrastructural design is literally

programmed into these CR9s and all it needs is a little orientation from

the management team and it quickly goes into action to fix a problem.

Once in place, the CR9 quickly understands the problem clearly and

moves to replace the bad power cable. In a few minutes, the problem

is solved. You call your associate back and he thanks you kindly for the

assistance.

Now extremely hungry, you whip around the menu kiosk and

find the largest plate of pasta you can! You enter your order, along

with a strong cocktail and some water, and wait. About ten minutes

later a mechanism in the table opens from the side, elevating your

now ever-enticing looking meal to the surface in front of you. You dive

in! Eating away, you can't help but notice a gentle faced woman

staring at you from the corner. You smile and she comes over.

She asks, “How is everything?” You state “Quite good. Are you

the manager here?” She nods. You then go on to describe how your

grandfather helped design the kitchen system she is using. She lights

up and says, “My family has been feeding people for nine generations.

Sometimes I go back and cook the food myself, just for fun!” You both

laugh at the nostalgia, comparing the idea to those who still manually

fix up old cars just for fun.

After the meal and conversation, you decide it is time to retire

for the evening. Pulling out your phone you locate an available room a

few doors down. You enter the building, obtain a keycard from an

automated key wall, and ascend to your room and sleep. Life moves

forward.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

289

PART IV: THE ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT

-SOCIAL DESTABILIZATION AND TRANSITION-

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution,

we...must undergo a radical revolution of values...we must rapidly begin the

shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines

and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more

important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and

militarism are incapable of being conquered.

812

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Trends

The early 21

st

century marks an extremely interesting period of time.

On one side we see many clear and present problems that, as this

essay will discuss, show an accelerating gravitation toward further

negative consequences, both environmental and social. Yet, on the

other side, an ever present and accelerating solution orientation,

technically, reveals so much potential to change course for the better,

positive future possibilities appear profound and limitless.

To the casual observer, the idea that “the worst is over”

regarding the evolution of human culture may appear intuitively

accurate, depending on where one resides on the planet. We have

seen an overall increase in life expectancy, an overall decline in

behavioral violence,

813

a rising standard of living on the whole in the

Western world, along with a generally maturing global culture which

has been inching its way out of vast periods of bigotry, sexism, racism,

and nationalism, further promoting a much needed global

consciousness.

Yet, the truth of the matter is that any such social “progress”,

specifically the overall standard of living elevation occurring due to our

technological ingenuity, is actually amalgamating within a highly

detrimental framework that has just started to really reveal itself as

such. These surfacing problems are of a scientific nature, not an

ideological one. The fact is, market capitalism, no matter how you wish

to regulate it or not regulate it, contains severe structural flaws, which

will always, to one degree or another, perpetuate environmental abuse

and destabilization, along with human disregard and caustic inequality.

As expressed at length in other essays, this market/trade

concept manifested out of an environmental condition which viewed all

material things in the world as universally scarce. This has forged a

competitive and invariably exploitative value system that generates

certain behavioral propensities and loyalties that are misaligned with

812 Source: Speech by Dr. King, 1967

(http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/21/dr_martin_luther_king_in_1967

)

813 Reference: Violence Vanquished

(http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405311190410670457658

3203589408180)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

290

the natural order of reality, as per our modern environmental and

sociological understandings.

814

The difference between capitalism's effect today and in the

16

th

century is that our technical ability to rapidly accelerate and

amplify this competitive and exploitative process has brought to the

surface consequences that simply couldn’t be recognized or even

anticipated during those earlier periods. Today, we are seeing the

surfacing of these previously hidden tendencies in full force, and the

end result is that what we see as progress now will likely be overcome,

in time, by the larger order force of capitalism's misaligned detrimental

principles. It is like a massive tidal wave which has been on pace to

crashing on a ship for a very long time and no matter how well

developed and organized that ship is, it is no match for this larger

order force of nature.

Perhaps the most notable example of this is the fact that

virtually all life support systems are in decline.

815

816

It really doesn't

matter how many people have achieved a coveted, ideal, upper-class

lifestyle if it is occurring on the back of unsustainable methods. It is

simply a matter of time before the effects of resource depletion;

biodiversity loss and pollution evolve to destroy this illusion of success.

Likewise, while it may be true that we have seen a decline in violence,

mass genocide and the once enormous fatalities common to global

warfare, we need to step back even further and remember the

causality itself, not the mere trend of reduction. If resource scarcity

and geo-economic strategy have been the cause of most national

conflicts in the world in the past (which it has), then all it takes is that

precondition to re-materialize. The rapid decline of human-

environment relations in the past few decades is setting the stage for

this once again.

The 2003 Iraq war, by some analysts, was a resource war for

oil, and this is rather difficult to deny when the evidence is weighed.

817

There is little doubt that if the world was faced with real energy,

water, food and mineral scarcity, to the extent that it would deeply

affect the economies of larger national powers, we would regress

rapidly back to mass global warfare and mass casualties, not to

mention massive civil unrest as well. Today, all major superpowers

continue to increase armaments and weapon power clearly in

814 As an aside, it is important to qualify that market capitalism is not deemed

the sole root of the problem. Capitalism is a symptom as well, birthed out of

the fear-oriented psychology inherent to the historical condition of a

scarcity-saturated society.

815 Reference: Data shows Earth's systems in decline

(http://www.bt.com.bn/science-technology/2011/08/01/data-shows-earths-

systems-decline)

816 Reference: Study highlights global decline

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4391835.stm)

817 Reference: Top REPUBLICAN Leaders Say Iraq War Was Really about Oil

(http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/03/top-republican-leaders-say-

iraq-war-was-really-for-oil.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

291

preparation for such events.

818

On a different level, almost paradoxically, the very things that

have been helping society increase its standard of living, science and

technology, is also driving its increased vulnerability towards

destruction. While science can, on one side, illuminate the natural

alignments we as a species need to adhere to in order to find balance

with the habitat and each other, it can also be used locally and

narrowly, within the context of the distorted incentive structure the

market perpetuates, to create and accelerate destructive and

inhumane consequences. The atomic bomb is one extreme of this

reality. Our increased, high-tech capacity to more efficiently destroy

biodiversity, over use our resources and pollute, is another.

In some ways, the rapid development of science and

technology is pushing humanity into a corner. It is as though the

species is marching farther back into the apex of a three-dimensional

triangle, laid on its back, with its edges sloping quickly down, once

passed over. One side is a negative acceleration into social and

ecological decline and the other a positive acceleration into an age of

abundance, balance, peace and progress. As time moves forward, the

farther we move back into this apex, the less space we have. At some

point, we are going to succumb to one side or the other.

Population & Resources

Statistics suggest that well over nine billion people will inhabit Earth by

2050,

819

sourced mainly in the developing world. Along with this come

dramatic increases in demand for (a) food, (b) water, (c) energy, and

(d) minerals/material resources. Each one of these will be discussed.

818 Reference: Water scarcity to drive conflict, hit food and energy, experts say

(http://www.trust.org/item/?map=water-scarcity-to-drive-conflict-hit-food-

and-energy-experts)

819 Source: World population projected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050 – UN

report

(http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45165#.UtyMb2TTm2w)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

292

Reproduced from the Food and Agriculture Organization's Expert Forum,

2009

820

(a) As far as food, there is no shortage of studies that project that our

traditional food production methods are not going to come close to

meeting demand by 2050.

821

822

Estimates put production needs at a

60 to 110% increase

823

and given the current industrial climate which

also has an extremely wasteful and inefficient supply chain, wasting

30-50% of all food created,

824

the only logical expectation is a

worsening of the global poverty and starvation levels in terms of

population percentage. This doesn't even bring into consideration the

ongoing plea for more sustainable agricultural practices to stop

pollution/soil erosion, which would not be a convenience if this

820 Source: Global agriculture towards 2050

(http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/wsfs/docs/Issues_papers/HLEF205

0_Global_Agriculture.pdf)

821 Source: Food Security Raises the Obvious: Can We Feed 9.6 Billion by

2050? (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-zacka/food-security-raises-

the-_b_3948986.html)

822 Source: Yield Trends Are Insufficient to Double Global Crop Production by

2050

(http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0066428)

823 Reference: Current Global Food Production Trajectory Won't Meet 2050

Needs

(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130619195135.htm), UN:

farmers must produce 70% more food by 2050 to feed population

(http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/nov/28/un-farmers-

produce-food-population)

824 Source: Feeding the 9 Billion: The tragedy of waste

(http://www.imeche.org/knowledge/themes/environment/global-food)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

293

pressure accelerates, assuming traditional land-based methods are still

in use.

This chart shows yields per acre for the important foundational crops corn, rice,

wheat and soybeans. The solid lines show what would happen if this growth

continued. The dashed lines, however, show what is really needed to satisfy

expected demand by 2050.

825

(b) Potable water statistics are equally if not more dramatic, and

needless to say, water scarcity means even more problems for

traditional agriculture. According to the United Nations, by 2025, an

estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water

scarcity, with two-thirds of the world's population living in water-

stressed regions.

826

The OECD projects that fresh water demand will

rise by 55% by 2050, corroborating the U.N. water stress statistic,

extending it to 3.9 billion by 2050, or nearly half the world's

population.

827

825 Source: Yield Trends Are Insufficient to Double Global Crop Production by

2050

(http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0

066428)

826 Source: A Clean Water Crisis

(http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/fresh

water-crisis/)

827 Source: Water: The Environmental Outlook to 2050

(http://www.oecd.org/env/resources/49006778.pdf)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

294

2050 projection of water stressed areas.

Reproduced from the OCED Water, The Outlook to 2050, 2011

828

Likewise, water pollution, which further compounds the problem, is on

pace to continue as developing countries increase industry and

agriculture in their interest to raise their overall standard of living.

829

Sadly, this interest to increase industry will only further the pollution

problem as the methods used are often much more primitive and

environmentally dangerous than what the developed nations are

slowly emerging out of. China is a case in point. While considered a

developed industrial nation, its internal policies are excessively relaxed

when it comes to environmental standards and regulation. This is a

natural capitalist outgrowth as the intention is to free up commerce

and further economic growth. Today, China contains 16 out of 20 of

the world's most polluted cities

830

and only further development,

population growth and hence pollution is to be expected.

As far as water pollution, globally, nitrogen and phosphorous

contamination, mostly from agriculture, is now a major problem,

creating both “dead zones”

831

in certain surface bodies, along with

making people sick who drink it via ground water.

832

Likewise, many

other pollution sources are ubiquitous. For example, air pollution from

coal plants enters the atmosphere and then find its way into the

828 Source: Water:The Environmental Outlook to 2050

(http://www.oecd.org/env/resources/49006778.pdf)

829 Reference: Water Pollution Rises From Farms, Costing Billions

(http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-13/water-pollution-tied-to-

agriculture-increasing-costing-billions.html)

830 Source: The Most Polluted Places On Earth

(http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-most-polluted-places-on-earth/)

831 Reference: Too Much Nitrogen and Phosphorus Are Bad for the Bay

(http://www.cbf.org/how-we-save-the-bay/issues/dead-zones/nitrogen-

phosphorus)

832 Reference: Nitrates in Drinking Water

(http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/crops/00517.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

295

ocean. The mercury released by the burning of coal then pollutes the

fish and those fish are then caught as a food source, containing this

deadly toxin, hurting human health. Given current trends, mercury

pollution is expected to rise as well.

833

In short, if all patterns stay the same, water, both in the

context of its symbiotic relationship to biodiversity and its direct

relationship to human survival, given that humans can only go a few

days before dying without it, is on pace for severe shortages and

extremely detrimental environmental outcomes overall. This again

assumes we conduct ourselves in the same basic ways we have for the

past 50 years, embracing market logic, which is life-blind and

decoupled from environmental awareness.

(c) As far as energy, as alluded to in the prior note about coal, there is

literally nothing positive about any fossil fuel combustion process when

it comes to environmental sustainability.

834

These means will always

have a detrimental footprint and it can only get worse as population

and industry increases.

835

Compounding this is also the fact that such

resources are non-renewable and ensuing scarcity is simply a matter

of time.

Reproduced from Dr Michael R. Smith, CEO of Globalshift Ltd.

836

833 Source: Mercury contamination in fish expected to rise in coming decades

(http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mercury-contamination-in-fish-expected-

to-rise-in-coming-decades/)

834 Reference: The Hidden Cost of Fossil Fuels

(http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/coal-and-other-

fossil-fuels/the-hidden-cost-of-fossil.html)

835 Reference: Leaked UN Report: If We Don't Stop Polluting Now, We May

Never Have The Technology To Save Ourselves

(http://www.businessinsider.com/leaked-un-draft-report-on-climate-

change-2014-1)

836 See globalshift.co.uk for more country details.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

296

The issue of peak oil has been looming for many decades.

837

While controversial, what we know today is that convention oil

production, meaning the usual raw crude which used to occur in large

vast pockets under the Earth's surface, is in decline on the global

scale, with an estimated 37 countries already past their peak of

production.

838

According to Dr. Richard G. Miller, who worked for British

Petroleum from 1985 to 2008, "We need new production equal to a

new Saudi Arabia every 3 to 4 years to maintain and grow supply...

New discoveries have not matched consumption since 1986. We are

drawing down on our reserves, even though reserves are apparently

climbing every year. Reserves are growing due to better technology in

old fields, raising the amount we can recover – but production is still

falling at 4.1% p.a. [per annum].”

839

Of course, many others today speculate that the world is still

“awash in oil”, with grand speculations of future capacity. However,

these projections are centered on non-conventional sources that are

often extremely difficult to extract and process. Oil shale and tar

sands, along with “fracking” for natural gas, are currently accelerating

methods and, on paper, they can give the sense of abundance.

However, there is a great deal of dispute about just how viable these

means are to meet growing demand,

840

while the environmental costs

of these complex and often destructive practices are vast and

counterproductive.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, “The

development of 'oil shale' and 'tar sands' has been shown to be

environmentally destructive, and water and energy intensive.

Extracting oil from U.S. public lands through oil shale or tar sands

would deal a disastrous blow to any hope of reducing atmospheric CO2

levels to below 350 parts per million — the level we need to reach

soon to stabilize Earth’s climate. Besides helping push us toward global

warming catastrophe, oil shale and tar sands development destroys

species habitat, wastes enormous volumes of water, pollutes air and

water, and degrades and defiles vast swaths of land.”

841

Likewise, hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” has been found to

be exceptionally polluting and dangerous with even recorded instances

of ground water being so polluted that home water supplies have

become literally flammable.

842

Regardless of such contaminated water

837 Reference: Peakoil.net (http://www.peakoil.net/)

838 Reference: Former BP geologist: peak oil is here and it will 'break

economies' (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-

insight/2013/dec/23/british-petroleum-geologist-peak-oil-break-economy-

recession)

839 Ibid.

840 Ibid.

841 Source: Oil Shale and Tar Sands

(http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/energy/dirty_en

ergy_development/oil_shale_and_tar_sands/)

842 Reference: Fracking hot: N. Dakota man ‘sets tap water on fire’

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

297

supplies, given the dangerous air pollution, destroyed streams, and

devastated landscapes, fracking continues to accelerate globally.

843

The bottom line is that the fossil fuel economy is

unsustainable. The economic manner by which this will become

apparent in the current model will be through extreme price. The

visceral problem is how supply and demand will set up a condition

where scarcity will raise prices so high that industry and public simply

can't afford it. This would severely limit the entire facet of industry

itself since fossil fuels and hence energy are what move agriculture,

production, distribution and the like. At the same time, these practices

could bring human society in a pollution nightmare that could take

generations to overcome.

(d) General resource scarcity, embracing both biotic and abiotic

resources, is rapidly increasing globally, coupled with a parallel loss of

biodiversity. In 2002, 192 countries, in association with the United

Nations, got together over something called the Convention on

Biological Diversity, making a public commitment to significantly

reduce the losses by 2010. However, when 2010 arrived, no progress

has been made. In their official 2010 publication, they stated:

“None of the twenty-one sub-targets accompanying the overall

target of significantly reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 can

be said definitively to have been achieved globally...Actions to

promote...biodiversity receive a tiny fraction of 'funding' compared

to…infrastructure and industrial developments...Moreover, biodiversity

considerations are often ignored when such developments are

designed...Most future scenarios project continuing high levels of

extinctions and loss of habitats throughout this century.”

844

In a 2011 study published, which was in part a response to an

ongoing general call to isolate and protect certain regions of Earth to

ensure the security of biodiversity, it was found that even with millions

of square kilometers of land and ocean currently under legal

protection, it has done very little to slow the trends of decline.

845

They also made the following, highly troubling conclusion with

respect to resource consumption: “[The] ‘excess’ use of the Earth’s

resources or ‘overshoot’ is possible because resources can be

harvested faster than they can be replaced...the cumulative overshoot

from the mid-1980s to 2002 resulted in an ‘ecological debt’ that would

require 2.5 planet Earths to pay. In a business-as-usual scenario, our

demands on planet Earth could mount to the productivity of 27 planets

(http://rt.com/usa/flammable-water-dakota-fracking-023/)

843 Reference: The rapid expansion of natural gas drilling across the nation

endangers human health and the environment.

(http://www.nrdc.org/energy/gasdrilling/)

844 Source: Global Biodiversity Outlook 3 (http://www.cbd.int/gbo3/)

845 Reference: Ongoing global biodiversity loss and the need to move beyond

protected areas: a review of the technical and practical shortcomings of

protectedareas on land and sea (http://www.int-

res.com/articles/theme/m434p251.pdf)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

298

by 2050.”

846

Projections for (a) human population size, (b) human ecological demand and

(c) ecological debt under different scenarios of human population growth and

use of natural resources. Ecological demand is calculated by multiplying the size

of the world’s human population by the average yearly demands of a person

and dividing this amount by the Earth’s biocapacity; this yields the number of

planet Earths required to meet the whole human demand. Reproduced from

Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 434

847

Today, one could search through all peer reviewed scientific

documents in the world and likely not find one review of humanity's

resource and biodiversity relationships that are neutral or positive.

While estimates may vary, one thing is clear: the species is growing

rapidly and expanding its industrial activity in a climate of absolute

deficiency with respect to the unsustainable methods and values being

put forward. It is important to remind the reader, however, that this

problem is a system issue, not an immutably empirical one, once

again.

848

The problem is not our mere existence or a growing

population. The problem is that we have a global economic tradition in

place rooted in 16th century, pre-industrial, handicraft oriented

thought, that places the act of consuming (buying and selling) at the

core of all social unfolding. A good analogy is to consider the gas pedal

846 Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 434: p.261, 2011

847 Ongoing global biodiversity loss and the need to move beyond protected

areas: a review of the technical and practical shortcomings of

protectedareas on land and sea (http://www.int-

res.com/articles/theme/m434p251.pdf)

848 See the essay Post-Scarcity, Trends and Capacity for why this is so.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

299

on a car. The more consumption of fuel, the faster it goes; buying

things in our world is the fuel. If you slow down consumption,

economic growth slows, people lose jobs, purchasing power declines

and social conditions destabilize. This is an artificial reality generated

by misaligned economic principles, not the physical reality itself.

The Perfect Storm

While the preceding sections have addressed specific, major issues in

some detail, we cannot overlook the economic synergy which links

them all in the financial and technical systems related. Energy, water,

food and material accessibility interlock into one societal mechanism,

which can have dramatic effects on employment, social stability, and

many other issues if any one of them is disturbed.

There are numerous scenarios that could materialize that

compound this overall sustainability problem. For example, global GDP

has a powerful connection to water. The IFPRI states “current

'business as usual' water management practices and levels of water

productivity will put at risk approximately $63 trillion, or 45 percent of

the projected 2050 global GDP (at 2000 prices), equivalent to 1.5

times the size of today’s entire global economy.”

849

Likewise, from a mere production standpoint, 70% of all

freshwater is used for agriculture.

850

Any large-scale water scarcity

would then also mean reduced yields, assuming the same traditional

practices are used for cultivation. The same goes for energy, especially

hydrocarbons. The effect of a substantial reduction of these resources

on traditional agriculture alone is staggering, while the effect it would

have on industry as a whole as far as the vast amount of petroleum-

based products and power needs would be nearly apocalyptic in the

current model.

We also cannot overlook the social stability issue and how the

decline of such resources will change human, social and national

behavior, inciting indifference and a loss of empathy as fear and

narrow self-preservation is triggered and exacerbated. We can

imagine, for instance, a steep price increase in gasoline where it

becomes unprofitable for those transporting critical, life- supporting

materials. The result might very well be a union strike that stops the

flow of goods, compounding the problem. Imagine for a moment if the

dominant food transport unions on the west coast of America went on-

strike, stopping the flow of basic commodities. This could spark a

highly detrimental chain reaction.

Scarcity breeds crime, conflict and anti-social behaviors. On

the micro scale, it is not difficult to see the increase in gangs; theft

and prohibitive underground economies flourish in this climate, as they

have statistically proven to do so in regions still enmeshed in great

849 Source: Water in 2050: The Future of Water Requires a Sustainable, Blue

Path (http://growingblue.com/water-in-2050/)

850 Source: Water Uses

(http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/water_use/index.stm)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

300

poverty and a lack of job opportunities. Disease, and other issues

arising out of such poor conditions, is another viable concern. On a

macro level, as noted prior, national war has historically mostly been

driven by resource scarcity and national/business self-preservation.

It should be no surprise that America and many other nations

have been beefing up nuclear arsenals and delivery systems for some

time,

851

852

with the world currently capable of destroying itself many,

many times over with its existing arsenal of over 26,000 nuclear

warheads.

853

Thousands of these weapons remain on high alert today,

ready to be fired at any time and the reaction of the global outcry to

stop proliferation has literally been met with more proliferation, behind

the scenes.

854

At the same time, the mechanics of the global financial system

are also in play. Since all money is created out of debt and loaned with

interest attached – interest that actually doesn't exist in the money

supply outright – there is always more global debt in existence than

money to pay for it. This has culminated into vast personal, business

and government defaults, both real and pending. A 2010 report from

the Standard & Poor’s rating agency estimates that the United States

will have a debt of 415% of GDP by 2050, while by 2060, 60% of all

the countries in the world will be bankrupt.

855

A cursory glance at the financial status of most countries in the

world today reveals a spectrum of medium debt to extreme debt.

Amazingly, there appears to be no country on Earth with a balanced

budget, and as of early 2014, the public debt of the planet is

equivalent to about 52 trillion dollars.

856

However, that is just public or

government debt. The real figure, combining both public and private

debt is a staggering 223.3 trillion dollars.

857

Dividing that number by

the 7.1 billion people on the planet as of early 2015, we find that each

851 Reference: U.S. nuclear weapon plans to cost $355 billion over a decade:

CBO report (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/20/us-usa-nuclear-

arms-idUSBRE9BJ1FH20131220)

852 Reference: 2200 nuclear weapons in state of high operational alert: Report

(http://www.presstv.com/detail/2012/06/05/244720/2200-nuclear-

warheads-ready-to-fire/)

853 Reference: ctbto.org

(http://www.ctbto.org/faqs/?uid=16&cHash=aa30bc1b1be1d08f3a48d4cff1

b8a0db)

854 Reference: How a Massive Nuclear Nonproliferation Effort Led to More

Proliferation

(http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/06/how-a-massive-

nuclear-nonproliferation-effort-led-to-more-proliferation/277140/)

855 Source: S&P: 60% of countries will be bankrupt within 50 years

(http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/09/sp-60-countries-bankrupt-50-

years/)

856 Source: The global debt clock

(http://www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock)

857 Source: Number of the Week: Total World Debt Load at 313% of GDP

(http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/05/11/number-of-the-week-total-

world-debt-load-at-313-of-gdp/)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

301

human owes about $31.5 thousand dollars.

So, we have to ask ourselves: how possible is it that we are

going to be able to financially facilitate the vast technological reforms

needed to generate some degree of sustainability when it is clear that

massive overhauls of our agricultural system, water processes,

pollution control, energy sources, infrastructure and industrial methods

are desperately needed? We know we have the technical means to do

it, but do we have the money?

The more one thinks about this latter question, the more

incredible and outright idiotic the financial mechanisms in play

become. It isn't that some progress will not be made, as the major

powers in the world pretty much don't take debt seriously to begin

with. The difference between a 1 trillion dollar deficit and a 100 trillion

dollar deficit is only as important as the ability to service it. In truth,

the major powers know the full amounts will never be paid back and

the process of alleviation will likely take a political form rather than

financial, likely in the context of market incentive negotiations, geo-

political negotiation and resource acquisition negotiations.

However, those deals are usually behind the scenes and the

growing pressure to cut social programs and spending on what are

more often than not the very programs that help keep some order,

continues for the sake of public perception and other levels of

differential advantage. Likewise, while the larger powers have great

advantage in this predicament, the smaller developing countries are

the ones who really suffer, as they have no economic or military power

to gain clout in international appeal. Given this, it is easy to see that

the developing countries will be the ones firmly underwater, continuing

to be vulnerable to austerity, exploitation and the basic ignoring of its

internal social strife.

In 2011, the United Nations noted a statistic that 1.5 billion

people were living in “absolute poverty”, with a representative from

Nepal at a pertaining conference adding that “at the rate of decline

observed from 1990 to 2005, it would take another 88 years to

eradicate extreme poverty”.

858

If we reflect on the rapid economic

growth that occurred from 1990 to 2005, which was considered by

many a “boom” period for much of the world,

859

we see that the

existing negative pressures were not even close to what we are seeing

two decades later. Hence, it is logical to speculate that what progress

(growth) was achieved in the 1990s with respect to the rather minimal

percentage reduction of extreme poverty is likely to be reversed as

exponential population growth amidst an ever-deteriorating financial

and environmental situation accelerates.

Likewise, and as a final topic of this section with respect to

858 Source: 1.5 Billion People Living in Absolute Poverty Makes Its Eradication

Humankind’sMost Significant Challenge, Second Committee Told

(http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/gaef3313.doc.htm)

859 Reference: 1990s boom 'stunting world growth'

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3160052.stm)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

302

emerging negative pressures, we have the issue of technological

unemployment. As partly expressed in the essay Market Efficiency vs.

Technical Efficiency, machine automation is rapidly evolving to mirror

or exceed the vast majority of industrial activities common to human

laborers. A 2013 study out of the University of Oxford states “45

percent of America’s occupations will be automated within the next 20

years.”

860

Given America's advancement, this naturally also implies

that half the world's occupations could be automated as well.

More specifically, a detailed examination of automation

technology by sector at the present time, both in the fields of manual

labor and the service industry, show that there is really no tangible

occupation in existence that isn't on pace to being replaced by

machine and/or artificial intelligence. It is simply a matter of time and

intention. Unfortunately, the market economy is predicated on people

“earning a living” and cycling money through the society to maintain

economic stability and growth. This, of course, means such a trend is

actually economically detrimental in the context of the market system.

Likewise, since such automation technology is subject to

Moore's law, or more accurately ephemeralization, such machines are

getting cheaper and eventually they will become more cost effective

than hiring human beings, who require insurance, vacations, a limited

number of hours to work a week, and so forth. The productivity now

possible is exponentially more effective with machines than with

people, and this reality will only increase as time moves forward. Yet,

this creates a system contradiction, for if machines displace people,

how do they get income to cycle money into the economy by

purchase?

In traditional market principles, there is no solution, other than

the false assumption that humans will constantly shift in exact accord

with such labor displacement. This might have worked in the mid 20

th

century, but it will no longer work given the rapid, exponential

advancement of modern technology today. Even more, it could be

well-argued that it is socially irresponsible not to pursue this new

attribute of our means of production for it removes humans from

unsafe and monotonous, life-wasting roles, possibly freeing them also

to do more sensitive, creative, high-order things. Such a transition,

however, would require the entire edifice of market capitalism to be

uprooted and replaced by a new social approach that does not require

labor-for-income.

The Fatal Incentive: Business Acumen

“Business acumen” can be defined as “keenness and quickness in

understanding and dealing with a business situation in a manner that

is likely to lead to a good outcome.”

861

Put another way, it is about

860 Source: Report Suggests Nearly Half of U.S. Jobs Are Vulnerable to

Computerization (http://www.technologyreview.com/view/519241/report-

suggests-nearly-half-of-us-jobs-are-vulnerable-to-computerization/)

861 Source: Business acumen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_acumen)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

303

gauging each situation to best maximize profits, in the most strategic

way. This is brought up to convey two related propensities that have a

great relevance in the way most people, particularly the wealthy, will

likely cope with increasing scarcity and/or social destabilization.

The first is the rather simple observation that the pursuit of

business is really nothing more than the pursuit of money. While the

business mindset will often romanticize about “helping the world” and

“pleasing consumers”, the only real measure is profit. It is simply

assumed that gaining profit means helping the world, which is clearly

not the case given the vast declines in our habitat integrity and the

fact that there are now more slaves in the world than ever before.

862

The second is subtler and it has to do with the psychology of

fear and greed. Research done in the Department of Psychology at the

University of California, Berkeley found that increased wealth actually

creates reduced empathy and compassion towards others, along with

elevating one's sense of entitlement.

863

In short, increased wealth

tends to make one “mean” and there is no shortage of corroborating

studies that have confirmed this very propensity. A study done by the

University of Michigan titled “Higher social class predicts increased

unethical behavior” states:

“Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods

reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than

lower-class individuals. In studies 1 and 2, upper-class individuals

were more likely to break the law while driving, relative to lower-class

individuals. In follow-up laboratory studies, upper-class individuals

were more likely to exhibit unethical decision-making tendencies

(study 3), take valued goods from others (study 4), lie in a negotiation

(study 5), cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize (study 6),

and endorse unethical behavior at work (study 7) than were lower-

class individuals. Mediator and moderator data demonstrated that

upper-class individuals’ unethical tendencies are accounted for, in part,

by their more favorable attitudes toward greed.”

864

A study titled “Class and compassion: socioeconomic factors

predict responses to suffering” revealed that lower-class individuals

respond with greater compassion to viewing human suffering than

upper class individuals.

865

In a related study titled "Social Class,

Contextualism, and Empathic Accuracy" it was found that individuals of

a lower social class are more empathically accurate in judging the

862 Reference: There Are More Slaves Today Than at Any Time in Human

History

(http://www.alternet.org/story/142171/there_are_more_slaves_today_than

_at_any_time_in_human_history)

863 Reference: Does money make you mean? (TED lecture by Paul Piff)

(http://www.examined-life.info/2013/12/does-money-make-you-mean-ted-

lecture-by-paul-piff/)

864 Source: Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior

(http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/02/21/1118373109)

865 Source: Class and compassion: socioeconomic factors predict responses to

suffering. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22148992)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

304

emotions of other people. In its three studies, lower-class individuals

received higher scores than upper class individuals on a test of

empathic accuracy; judging the emotions of an interaction partner;

and made more accurate inferences about emotion from static images

of muscle movements in the eyes.

866

In a report titled "Having Less, Giving More: The Influence of

Social Class on Prosocial Behavior" it was found that across four

studies, lower class individuals proved to be more generous,

charitable, trusting, and helpful, as compared with their upper class

counterparts.

867

A 2012 article in the The Chronicle of Philanthropy

reports that low-income people give a far bigger share of their

discretionary income to charities. People who make $50,000 to

$75,000 give an average of 7.6 percent of their discretionary income

to charity, compared with an average of 4.2 percent for people who

make $100,000 or more.

868

Now, such reports are not noted to suggest this is a universal

phenomenon. However, there is clearly something going on in the

psychology of those who become wealthy and a heightened

sense of protection, indifference and entitlement seems consistent.

With this in mind, let's return to our consideration of how different

classes would respond to threatening social circumstances. Given the

fact that the world now has almost 2,200 billionaires worth about 6.5

trillion in total

869

(that's an average of 2.9 billion each), with the top

100 capable of ending global poverty four times over,

870

a great deal

of attention has been placed on these figures in the hope for social

help.

Given the anger that has risen due to the reality of

tremendous and growing inequality in the world, one can imagine the

general sense of unease of those who are super-rich. Yet, apart from

what could be argued as a public relations move, combined with both

honest intentions and the specter of philanthropy, such as the so-

called billionaire's “Giving Pledge”,

871

one can't help but feel deep

animosity for such figures and the system that enabled their extreme

866 Source: Social Class, Contextualism, and Empathic Accuracy

(http://pss.sagepub.com/content/21/11/1716.abstract)

867 Source: Having less, giving more: the influence of social class on prosocial

behavior. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20649364)

868 Source: Wealthiest Don’t Rate High on Giving Measure

(http://philanthropy.com/article/America-s-Geographic-Giving/133591/)

869 Source: Number of world’s billionaires hits record; U.S. Leads

(http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/insight/number-world-billionaires-hits-

record-u-leads-152954753.html)

870 Source: Annual income of richest 100 people enough to end global poverty

four times over (http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressrelease/2013-

01-19/annual-income-richest-100-people-enough-end-global-poverty-four-

times)

871 Reference: Forty U.S. billionaires pledge to give half their money to charity

(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-

08/05/c_13430367.htm)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

305

and clearly unnecessary wealth.

This, again, isn't to say anyone is “bad”, but rather to note

that any system which has the capacity to even create such extreme

wealth imbalance, in and of itself, needs to be addressed as the root

problem it is – not the supposed charity of those who have been able

to play the market game to such an extent as to accrue such irrational

and wasteful sums. It is not a cynical view in this light to consider such

things as the “Giving Pledge” as more of an insult than a solution.

So given the noted psychological studies put forward and the

current state of extreme and growing wealth imbalance and

destabilization (good intentions by the wealthy aside), there is no

evidence that the rich will save us. If current trends remain, as they

likely will, the rich will simply isolate themselves more and more in

fear and protection as problems continue to emerge. This propensity

also applies to the entire chain of social stratification in general as

narrow, short-term self-preservation will always be a knee-jerk

tendency when one finds his or herself susceptible to financial loss and

as the studies show, the higher a given person is in class status, the

more indifferent they tend to become.

This is the signature of “class war”, and as these trends

persist, we can hence expect increased uprisings and anger at the

state of affairs and gross imbalance in society. While this may seem

like an elusive kind of phenomenon, it should be thought about in the

same context of other negative factors, such as resource depletion,

unemployment and the like. An angry population can become a

divisive and violent population, and the emergence of large-scale

social insurrection can have very negative social consequences if root

causes are not clearly understood.

Transition

The idea of transitioning fluidly out of the current model into a NLRBE

can be a daunting and difficult speculation. Perhaps the first

consideration is to think more deeply about what it is we are

transitioning into exactly. In many ways, this move from a scarcity-

preserving economy to a system of direct resource management and

scientific application in the pursuit of a post-scarcity or abundance

economy to meet the needs of the human species, while securing the

integrity of the habitat, is really a transition of values.

At the same time, it is also a transition of operant

reinforcement, which simply means the new structure actually works

to reward conservation, balance, social contribution and ecological

respect, rather than what we reinforce today, which is essentially

selfishness, competition, consumption and exploitation. In fact, the

market system could gesturally be viewed as not a “social system”,

per se, but an anti-social system.

As far as physical transition itself, it is naturally naive to

assume we can predict the future regarding such a vast societal shift,

especially given how forceful and present the pressures are that keep

the current system in place. All of us are coerced on a daily basis into

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

306

this market psychology in order to maintain survival, and hence our

values are deeply associated to these methods, practices and general

worldview whether we like it or not.

It could even be said that these pressures generate a "syntax"

of thought, if you will. Our brains seem to wire themselves as we

engage the environment, constantly reinforced by existing pressures

and our responsive actions. Just as a person can learn a skill and have

that skill become "second nature", without much direct conscious

thought to execute once learned, we humans perform actions

constantly with the same kind of learned, subconscious patterning. For

example, we often don't even know we are behaving in so-called

"narrow selfish" ways at times, since everyone around us appears to

be working in the exact same manner, creating perceived normality.

Therefore, TZM naturally views the shifting of people's values

as the most important necessity for transition. How this is done is

deeply related, of course, to education, while also attempting to

actively create conditions that, again, hopefully reinforce these new,

sustainable values, inching out larger order change.

That stated, there are perhaps two broad ways to think about

transition, with the first giving something of a logical framework for

the second. This first scenario assumes that there is the basic sanction

of the political/economic power structure and the community overall.

It assumes that the human species has definitively decided to make

this move in a step-by-step manner on the global scale. Of course, the

sad truth is that it would likely never happen this way.

Yet, this hypothetical is expressed because the reasoning

inherent is relevant with respect to how we think about transition as a

general process and certain attributes noted would likely still come into

play in the second scenario. This second scenario is the more realistic

scenario as it assumes there is no large-scale public sanction and the

transition must originate from activism and influence. This essentially

looks at exactly where we are today, taking into account the vast

range of divisive opinions, political polarization, national hatred,

commercial warfare, etc.

So, to conclude this introduction to transition, it is also worth

noting, as an aside, that many who criticize The Zeitgeist Movement

do so not because they disagree with the direction but because they

do not understand how to get there. A relevant analogy to counter this

argument is the idea of a very sick person seeking to get well. This

person might not even know the cure or the medical path to get there,

but given his or her life is at stake, the task to learn and try to realize

the proper means toward resolution does not end because of mere

ambiguity.

Likewise, the difficulty or confusion in transitioning into a

NLRBE does not remove the necessity for it. The fact is, we are all

humans on this planet and we can change the world quite easily if we

can find unified, shared common ground to relate. Furthermore, it's

also important to note that we are always in transition to one degree

or another. There are no utopias and even if we accomplish only 50%

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

307

of such a move, as we may define it in theory, it would still be well

worth it.

872

Scenario One: Systematic Dismantling

A systematic move from the market economy to a NLRBE could

theoretically occur through a step-by-step "socialization" of the core

attributes of the societal infrastructure. Essentially, we dismantle one

layer while implementing a new one in the most fluid way we can. This

term "socialization", which is of course a stigmatized notion in the

West given the hyper-glorification of the market economy and the

demonization of anything otherwise, is still technically appropriate to

use in this context, bias aside. This simply means that the necessity of

money and the market mechanism would no longer apply to the given

social attribute (not that a traditionally “socialist”, in the political and

economic sense of the word, structure would replace it). Direct,

advanced technical means would produce and distribute without a

price tag, meeting these needs directly.

As noted in detail in prior essays, a critical component that

enables the new social model to produce a high standard of living is

the liberal application of modern technology and a systems approach

to social organization based on strategic technical efficiency. Since the

current model is literally based on a technical inefficiency to keep it

going, the more technically efficient the system becomes, the less

traditional labor is required. Therefore, in a transition starting from

within the market economy, measures to compensate for this financial

loss are required. These can consist, in part, of the adjustment of

wages to compensate for job losses, along with the shortening and

sharing of the workweek to also compensate.

The core societal attributes to be discussed for this exercise

consist of (a) food production, (b) utilities, (c) basic good production

and (d) transportation. Obviously, these fragments have a synergistic

relationship, which require other types of technical evaluation.

However, since these core attributes of our day-to-day lives are

essentially what maintain our general health and basic standard of

living, these abstractions should suffice for the sake of simple

reasoning exemplification. It is also worth noting that the post-scarcity

relationships denoted in each subject can be explored more so in the

essay Post-Scarcity Trends, Capacity and Efficiency.

(a) Food Production:

The technology for high efficiency, automated food production is now a

reality today, with vertical farm technology and low energy/low impact

872 The idea of partially achieving a NLRBE might be confusing to some. This

statement is made to express how certain management practices and half-

measures, constituting a "hybrid-economy" are not out of the question

toward some degree of sustainable, abundance generating progress. This

will not be explored in this essay but the possibility is worth personal

consideration.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

308

cultivation methods such as hydroponics, aquaponics and aeroponics.

Desalinization processes, for example, could enable the building of

these vertical farm facilities along most major coastlines, producing

organic food in quantities to meet and exceed the needs of the

regional population.

In short, if such advanced methods were implemented, the

strategic abundance possibility reveals that the need to place

restrictive monetary value on basic food resources is simply not

required. There is no legitimate technical reason, even within an

existing monetary economy, grocery stores today cannot provide the

same produce resources to a given regional population, without the

need for financial exchange. It is simply a matter of getting the

advanced automated systems in place.

(b) Utilities:

The hydrocarbon economy today continues to cause a great deal of

turmoil, not only on the environmental level but also due to the

inevitable scarcity of the resources themselves. While the debate

continues regarding "peak oil", there is no legitimate debate as to the

fact that fossil fuels are essentially finite and its combustion is

detrimental to the environment. Given the advanced state of

renewable energy means such as solar, tide, wind, geothermal and the

like, coupled with advanced localization means, there is no reason any

of us would need to pay for energy if the system was properly

designed. Advanced solar systems alone applied to every existing

structure, even feeding excess energy back into a community's

redundant base-load grid, would eliminate electricity needs

immediately based on current statistics.

The same phenomenon also assists with natural gas and water

utilities. Since electricity can be used to replace gas for heating and

most other utility purposes, its use can simply be designed out in this

context. Water, which is of a generally nominal financial expense today

in the West, can be made dramatically more abundant via further

industrial efficiency to recede pollution and maintain a regional surplus

by strategic use. Those who do have water shortages in the world

have had technical resolutions for years via desalinization and other

purification systems, both on the large scale and small scale. It has

been, again, the lack of financial resources that have caused the

problems, not the lack of technical ability.

(c) Basic Good Production:

The spectrum of basic good production is wide, ranging from core

staples such as household items, clothes and communication

technology, to specific tools for specialized tasks, such as musical

instruments and other increasingly less demanded items. The best way

to think about this is as a “spectrum of demand”, with daily needs on

one side and specialized, or "luxury" type goods on the other.

While the advancement of automation technology will likely

facilitate a vast amount of variation in production once the revolution

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

309

in modular robotics and nanotechnology comes to fruition, for the sake

of transition in the immediate future, we can think about industry in

the more established context. Overall, each industry or sub-industry

could be unified in operations to enable the highest level of production

and output efficiency possible as a deliberate whole. In other words,

the corporate structures would combine based on genre or sector,

using that collaborative capacity to increase efficiency, while reducing

waste and competitive multiplicity. This would set the stage for the

creation of a fully synergistic industrial system, applying advanced,

ideally simplifying automation processes liberally at every turn to

remove human labor and inevitably increase efficiency.

In this, primitive versions of the Collaborative Design System,

as described at length in the essay The Industrial Government, could

also gain traction. While certain limitations would occur given the

absence of larger order cooperation, the inching in of this process

would set the stage for larger incorporation while also increasing

sustainability.

Now, returning to the prior point about compensation for the

loss of paid work hours, the loss of sales naturally means a loss of

growth and hence a loss of jobs. In the current model, this is

structurally a negative thing, of course. However, in this hypothetical

transition proposal, wages would shift in proportion to the resulting job

losses and/or with the shifting of workday hours. In other words,

assuming an initial average work day need of 8 hours per person,

incurring a loss of jobs by 50% due to the application of automation

and new levels of technical efficiency, the work day would then be cut

by 50% and spread across the existing workforce, keeping everyone

employed but for a shorter period.

So, if we had a hypothetical economy with 1000 people and

50% of them were displaced by this deliberate technological

unemployment, the workday is then divided between them so

everyone now works only 4 hours, instead of 8. Again, the fact that

these goods and services are becoming free in the economy means

that there is less of a need for prior levels of purchasing power.

Therefore a 50% cut in wages is calculated to be directly compensated

for. Overall, we are phasing the monetary system out in this process.

In cases where this isn't feasible, there would be an increase in hourly

wage rates in the same basic proportion, compensating for the

average losses incurred. In theory, this hourly reduction of the total

workforce, assuming 100% employment through these standards,

coupled with the compensating increase in now free resources, would

fluidly move the society out of the labor market over time. Again, this

is the abstract hypothetical.

(d)Transportation:

The next social staple is transportation. The production of vehicles,

which is already largely automated today, is one consideration and this

isn't much of a problem to perfect. This issue here is access,

application and necessity. Of course, this thought exercise could be

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

310

quite elaborate. If we were to calculate the vast amount of energy and

resources used on a daily basis today for all of us to travel to

centralized offices, usually participating in occupations with

questionable relevance in the broad view, we would be amazed at the

inefficiency apparent on the whole. While there are certainly

exceptions, there are very few occupations today that really require

direct location interaction anymore, given the vast power of the

Internet and such communication tools. Even industrial production

facilities, once further automated, would only require a small number

of people on location, with most processes administered remotely.

So, with a strategic move to simply stop from wasteful 9-5, 5

day workweek, traditional travel to work and back would create a

great alleviation of pressure on many levels. Having everyone

equipped by whatever means needed to operate their business

function from their homes is a logical and sustainable idea for energy

reduction, reduced accidents, reduced pollution, reduced stress and

the like.

Beyond that, as far as infrastructure, systems of sharing, such

as the currently existing rental street bicycles and the like, should be

applied to vehicles (and everything else we can), coupled with the

liberal incorporation of mass transit. This, again, is to be a step-by-

step process of improvement where different regions are purposefully

reorganized to favor the highest level of technical travel efficiency

possible.

In short, localizing labor locations/remote access to limit travel

needs, coupled with sharing systems for vehicles and liberal mass

transit, would profoundly change the nature of transport

infrastructure, easing into the foundation of a NLRBE, even if some of

those services still need money to pay for them.

Scenario Two: The Real World

Now, with the following truncated yet logically purposeful train of

thought towards a hypothetical break down the current system and a

systematic implementation of attributes of the new one in mind, let's

now take a realistic look at what a transition to this new society may

hold given the complex and dichotomous reality we endure today.

It's first important to understand that the intention of social

and environmental sustainability has been developing under the

surface of culture for a long time. For example, the now common

notion of the "green" economy, which is being pushed forward by

environmentalists, coupled with periodic outbursts by civil rights

groups such as Occupy Wall Street, reveals a deep seeded interest to

aspire for a world that is more equal, humane and sustainable. While

our current social system, as argued, often reinforces the opposite of

those values, it still seems that deep down most of our core historical

philosophies still suggest an interest in social equality and sustainable

balance.

So again, it is important to acknowledge that in order to really

create a more sustainable, humane world, a complete move out of the

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

311

current social architecture is required. Otherwise the same basic

problems will persist, even if reduced to some degree by half-

measures. To do this, global social movement tactics become critical to

put pressure on the existing system, along with helping change the

intents and values of the culture itself by vast education and

communication projects.

However, before such ideas are addressed, it is worth

revisiting the issue of “societal collapse”, this time in the context of

what we could term eco-bio-social pressures. A backdrop to our

cultural evolution are pressures that can take both a positive and

negative form. Positive pressures of this nature could include the

development and expression of life-advancing technologies where the

viewing public is so impressed by the possibilities, the social demand

for that feature or implementation becomes unwavering.

On the other side are the negative pressures, such as the

dramatic failure of a social edifice that shocks the culture and creates

unease, loss of confidence and a dire interest in problem resolution by

new methods. Given the prior section on societal problems we can

logically expect as the current model grinds along, that these negative

pressures are bound to help facilitate new incentives toward change.

Of course, this is out of the control of TZM and at no point does TZM

promote furthering any harm upon anyone. TZM focuses on positive

pressure influence in its activist work, showing the world what can be

done through education and think tank projects. Yet, TZM does not

deny the existence of these other emerging negative pressures and

acknowledges them also as a form of mobilizing incentive.

It is also important to note that so-called “societal collapse” is

not an absolute distinction. It is relative. In general day-to-day

operations, specifically in the West, one typically does not look around

and deem the society as being in a state of "breakdown". This is

because most people have simply become accustomed to the pollution,

cancer, debt, homelessness, depletion, poverty, wars, uprisings,

periodic financial crises, unemployment and other inefficiencies. It isn't

as though one day everyone wakes up and finds the whole world

suffering or dead in the streets. Societal collapse, or system failure, is

a process and the real question is actually how bad are we prepared

for it to become before we act to change it.

In truth, all systems change and while such a process of failure

is a very negative thing in the short-term, it is also ultimately a natural

consequence of cultural evolution. Problems can lead to creativity and

creativity leads to new solutions, if we are willing to move on. At any

rate, with these eco-bio-social pressures apparent, coupled with a

basic understanding of how a step-by-step transition could unfold

(scenario one), let's now talk about transitional activism. The goal here

is to not only facilitate a move to the new model, but to also work to

help those suffering in the current model, basically bringing them in

first in this process of transition. This is done by creating parallel

systems, which do not use money but still provide helpful services to

people.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

312

With growing technological unemployment and most

governments and corporations still looking the other way for as long as

they can, creating solutions to ease this stress on the population,

coupled with removing support for the current system, is a win-win

goal. For example, the use of mutual credit systems

873

or “time

banks”, facilitate a kind of non-currency transactions, often based

upon labor only. While taxation of these transactions apply in some

countries, this system is able to bypass money overall (i.e. for those

who have skills but are poor), along with reducing overall financial

circulation (as a means of protest and transition).

A mutual credit system is a form of barter for services or

goods, which allow non-monetary exchange values to be applied to

other goods and services, removing the 1:1 good to good correlation

common to simple barter. LETS

874

is an example. It assists an interest

free, non-inflationary form of exchange where value cannot float or

fluctuate, as it does today, among many other positives. In the case of

the “time bank”, it is based on the prior work of the person, in effect.

There are a number of variations of these kinds of systems and they

are becoming ever more sophisticated in their programming and

malleability.

Another tactic, which has a similar effect, is the use of

community sharing systems. TZM Toronto, for example, has a tool

sharing network where basic tools exist in a facility, like a library, and

one can check out these tools in rotation, as needed.

875

As minor as

this may seem, it is easy to see how this library concept could extend

greatly in a community, such as with automobiles and other items

used more sparsely. Again, this would help those who didn't have a

means of access, along with removing growth pressure for the

economic system. It would also be more environmentally friendly and

sustainable, needless to say.

Likewise, more traditional social policy influencing methods,

such as mass online petitions and other such acts are to be viewed as

minor in effect but still relevant for awareness. TZM does not endorse

physical protest in the sense of piling into a parking lot and yelling at

buildings as an effective means of social change, but it does not

dismiss them either as such activities can draw attention toward a

given issue to some degree. Likewise, petitions have been ubiquitous

in the world today, along with working to influence political officials by

also publicly challenging them in the purview of news media. These are

other such expressions that come down to one's creativity, courage

and personal interests.

873 Reference: New Money for Healthy Communities

(http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/cc/NMfHC/chp12.html)

874 Reference: The LETSystem Design Manual (http://www.gmlets.u-

net.com/design/home.html)

875 Reference: Toronto’s first Tool Library gears up to open in Parkdale

(http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/02/05/torontos_first_tool_library_

gears_up_to_open_in_parkdale.html)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

313

However, there is one specific political lobbying proposal worth

mentioning that has been around for a long time. While not a long-

term solution in and of itself, its implementation would at least

generate improved public health and eliminate general poverty. It is

called a “guaranteed” or “unconditional income” system. This simply

means people are given basic life-supporting funds each year to meet

basic needs, with no one left behind. In late 2013, activist groups in

Switzerland were pushing very hard to implement this idea.

876

Now, all that aside, TZM's most important activist initiatives

are the ever emerging think tank style projects, which literally can

work to show a better way. R. Buckminster Fuller once stated “You

never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change

something, build a new model that makes the existing model

obsolete”. This is the transitional motto of TZM as well.

As will be expressed in the essay “Becoming The Zeitgeist

Movement”, apart from general awareness events, think tank projects

that can literally start to build the new social model, both physically

and in its programming for sustainably and efficiency, is perhaps by far

the most profound method of activism. The digital revolution has taken

the complexity and arduous development process of industrial design

and provided the option to virtually represent most any physical idea

for the sake of communication. Likewise, while the Collaborative

Design System noted prior may not be in existence today, there is no

reason programming for it cannot be created now, even if it is to

merely exist as an over simplified “mock-up”.

Likewise, the Global Redesign Institute, which is a macro-

industrial design interface designed to enable anyone to think about

the logic of redesigning the topographical layout of Earth, is another

idea. In the end, the range of possibilities to virtually create almost

exactly what TZM speaks of is becoming more possible and this has

powerful communication potential. We can imagine, after these

developments occur, large-scale conferences that can be conducted in

any given region, showing how much more efficient that region would

be, if such technical system or designs were implemented.

The Lone Country Transition

Building on the prior paragraph, imagine a fairly small country with a

vast range of natural resources (a possible realistic location could be a

lush country in Latin America). It is some time in the future and

technical progress has been continuing its phenomenon of doing “more

with less”. The result is such that known methods of industrial

production now require fewer raw materials – to such an extent that if

a well-organized, resource-rich country adapted strategically - there

would be no need for imports or exports in that region. The country

could be “off-the-grid”, so to speak, in the context of globalization and

876 Reference: Switzerland’s Proposal to Pay People for Being Alive

(http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/magazine/switzerlands-proposal-to-

pay-people-for-being-alive.html?_r=0)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

314

international influence.

However, the leaders of this country really were not aware of

this technical reality. So, one day a relative of one of the leaders finds

his or herself at a TZM conference talking about those very design

initiatives and advancements in production methods. This person

notifies the leaders of the country and the government takes notice.

This hypothetical government is perhaps impoverished, as many Latin

American countries are, mostly due to international trade dealings,

corruption, debt problems, unemployment problems and the like. This

government, enlightened by what they have learned, decides to take

the initiative to incorporate a localized NLRBE, as best they can.

They understand that a true NLRBE is global, with a total

Earthly resource management system. However, knowing this will not

occur anytime soon in the current global climate, they calculate that

with a number of adjustments, they can still utilize the model to a

limited but powerful degree, solving most all of its country's

material/financial woes. So, the country then adjusts its industrial

methods in accord, creates a domestic sensor system and

management network to understand its resources and keep

equilibrium, fully digests the new industrial capacity to do more with

less, also installing the sustainability and efficiency protocol algorithms

inherent to the CDS - and they proceed with the new model in full

force, literally stopping all trade with foreign nations, being self-

contained and 100% sustainable in their region, once established.

After a period of this success, the world slowly begins to see

the incredible result of their moneyless economy. The population,

which had a very low standard of living prior, is elevated to an

economic abundance they have never seen. It helps greatly that the

people's values in that country consist of conservation and modest

living, furthering balanced progress of the nation.

So, given this evidence of feasibility and fruitfulness, other

adjacent nations begin to understand the vast merit of the new model

and decide to take part. This process of joining expands the resource

network greatly and the more it expands, the more other country's

people also see the merit and the more they demand it, and so on. In

time, the world unites.

Now, while this example might be over simplified, also clearly

ignoring the international political pressures that most certainly would

cause conflict, the reader should be able to understand that it is still a

possibility. In truth, we don't really know what exactly will start such a

move, but we do know that planting as many “seeds” of possibility as

possible is the key, coupled with the increasingly negative eco-bio-

social pressures that will appear to have no end in sight.

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

315

-BECOMING THE ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT-

Sometimes the slightest things change the directions of our lives, the merest

breath of a circumstance, a random moment that connects like a meteorite

striking the earth. Lives have swiveled and changed direction on the strength of

a chance remark.

877

-Bryce Courtenay

Responsibility

While on the surface the following proposition may seem like a mere

poetic gesture, the truth of the matter is that it is absolutely true and

inescapable. We are all in The Zeitgeist Movement whether we like it

or not.

Everyday of our lives we make decisions in social and

environmental contexts that create influence on the wellbeing and

perception of others. It doesn't matter what one's political, religious or

overall ideological disposition may be specifically; if you live on this

planet you are influencing it and the cultures spawned from it. What

this also means is that you are responsible. You are responsible for

what you set in motion and hence responsible for the state of the

habitat and you are response for the balance or imbalance of the

human species itself, to one degree or another.

Each act of empathy or indifference resonates with those who

received those effects, and due to the basic, evolutionary laws of

human adaption we adjust our expectations and propensities as we

experience the environment around us. Naturally, early childhood is

the most sensitive period to our species, as we try to figure out if this

new world we have come into is safe and supportive or if the world is

unsafe and indifferent. This type of programming, while established in

early childhood most dominantly, still continues throughout our lives,

and the effect it has on the larger order cultural perception is also

profound.

Yet, while our capabilities are truly powerful, particularly when

it comes to human society's recent capacity to build technological

tools, which can change the societal construct rapidly, it is easy to

forget that at the root core of this existence is a kind of subservience

and acceptance of factors that we will never have control of. After

millennia of confusion about the nature of our existence, inventing

complex and ultimately false systems of belief as we cope with this

confusion, the slow discovery of what are commonly termed the laws

of nature have provided not only a means to create and invent, but to

also understanding that we are actually not in control in many

profound ways.

We appear to only be in control of how we relate to this

existing rule structure and those natural law rules show no sign of

changing. Our submission to this reality rests at the heart of the

technical proposals made by The Zeitgeist Movement. It is merely a

877 Source: goodreads.com

(http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/change?page=2)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

316

process of adaptation to better optimize human existence and create a

condition that improves our lives and allows for future generations to

inhabit this planet without severe deficiency and a loss of

sustainability. In truth, the human species today does not just share

the world with itself and the habitat. It also shares it with the

extended family of the species and the extended family of the other

life inherent in the habit, generations into the future.

There has also been an eclipsing tendency for an idealized

sense of self-importance. Traditional religions and such notions of

being “created in the image of God” and other ideas tend to separate

humans from the natural world, as though we are not to be “reduced”

to some kind of mere artifact of nature. The great astronomer Carl

Sagan perhaps best addressed this problem in his text Pale Blue Dot:

“The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think

of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this

pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner,

how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one

another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled

by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they

could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion

that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged

by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great

enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is

no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from

ourselves.”

878

Of course, there is no denying that our capacity to think,

create, problem solve and alter our world places us in a very unique

rank with respect to the other species we share this habitat with. The

human organism is so incredible in so many functional and adaptive

ways, yet modern science has not even begun to understand how this

ever-complex array of organs and chemistry is able to do what it does

so well. In fact, our creativity is so powerful; we have been able to

extend our mental and physical forms to include physical and

computational possibilities that would otherwise be impossible. This is

the true nature of our technological ingenuity.

A computer, a car, a phone, a table, a pencil or any other tool

we may utilize, are not merely detached abstractions we engage in.

They are extensions of ourselves in very real and direct ways,

improving some type of function we wish to complete. As time moves

on, the logic is clear that problem resolution can become ever more

powerful, so much so that the social models we may embrace in one

generation will be made obsolete in another generation. The desired

transition from the competitive, market model of economics to a

NLRBE is just such a move.

878 Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space, Carl Sagan, 1994

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

317

Roles & Projects

The Zeitgeist Movement is a global organization that has no papers to

fill out or any formal acceptance process. One's interest in the

proposals of TZM, coupled with some type of action to promote such

change, is the only defining feature of a “member” and the degree of

participation comes down to the comfort zone and ingenuity of the

individual and/or groups they choose to be a part of. It is also

important to point out that simply being a part of this community is, in

many ways, a contribution to transition itself, as a changing of social

values is critical to such a move, and this starts by generating a

growing sub-culture that simply finds alignment with those values,

even though the old, caustic social model is still in place.

More specifically, getting involved invariably means trying to

raise awareness in the community, while ideally contributing to

development projects. The range of activist possibilities can be as

simple as an isolated person online working to post relevant data to

target audiences in places such as forums, media sites, social

networks and the like, while the others may take a more detailed

approach and contribute to design and programming projects that can

serve to facilitate the actual mechanics of the system proposed.

Three such developing projects are the (a) Global Redesign Institute or

GRI; (b) the Localized Solutions Project or LSP; (c) and the

Collaborative Design System or CDS.

(a) GRI is an online collaborative interface that functions in a similar

manner of public contribution as Wikipedia does, except with a much

higher degree of logical assessment and minus much of the semantic

problems that arise with an encyclopedia. The purpose is to redesign

the surface of Earth, graphically and mathematically, region by region,

based upon the most advanced principles of sustainability and

efficiency. This systems theory oriented approach does not observe

human contrivances and artificial limitations such as countries,

property rights and other inhibiting factors existing today.

The best way to think about it is as a macro-industrial design

initiative, which removes all topographical and infrastructural

attributes of modern society, working to replace them with more

optimized means. The goal is to virtually implement a NLRBE in the

largest scale theoretical way. Of course, many hear such a proposal,

coupled with the understanding that this is an open access project and

anyone on the planet can contribute, might conclude that the vastness

of subjective human opinion on such a matter would make settling on

such a design impossible.

This is actually not the case when the scientific method is

brought into play. While the localized technology (more on this in the

LSP section) will always change over time, since that is the nature of it

as things technically improve, the basic topographical reasoning will

change far less. More specifically, the manner by which these “macro”

decisions are arrived at would have a direct relationship to the

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

318

characteristics of any given area, coupled with the logical reasoning

inherent to the networks that emerge to synergistically connect social

functionality.

For example, different terrains have different propensities for

settlement, while the location of renewable energy sources demands

that harvesting exist in certain places. If production of a particular

genre of goods requires certain materials and those materials happen

to be local, it is logical to construct production facilities as close as

possible to the extraction source. Likewise, any other attributes of the

supply chain are best allocated using the same logic, including the

means of distribution. Distribution centers, would naturally be close to

large city centers where the population has easy access within short

distances. Furthermore, the creation of parks, recreation and the like

becomes self-evident as well, finding conducive placement in areas

that fit such a given profile, such as large flat expanses for games and

the like.

In short, this process of logically deducing topographical

placement to maximize efficiency and sustainability is a technical

process overall. This isn't to say one can “push a button” and the

entirety of a given region can be deduced automatically with no human

consensus or interfering values. Rather, it is to say that what we have

in the world today, with the wasteful, market-derived practices of

international markets, globalization and other inefficiencies, is deeply

misaligned. Through this basic natural law reasoning, we can further

create ease, safety, and abundance and hence increase our quality of

life, while reducing our environmental footprint dramatically.

As far as communication and education, which are ultimately

the points of any such project, in part, the task once a certain area has

been “updated” is to then show the world what has been made

possible. The statistics that would accompany these end design

proposals would likely relay mathematically derived feedback, such as

how much less energy and fewer resources are being used; the overall

ecological footprint reduction; the ease of transport; the efficient

increase in production and distribution; the statistical creation of a

material abundance based on population, and so forth.

(b) The Localized Solutions Project or LSP can be thought about as a

micro-industrial initiative, as compared to the “macro” one just

discussed with the GRI. This is simply a good design project where

people can think about smaller order systems that could be a part of

the larger order, “macro” context.

For example, a house design that is lightweight, off-the-grid

and easily constructed or prefabricated out of Earth friendly and

abundant materials, could be one such project. Once such a design is

found to be most versatile, sustainable and optimized by the

community through the online collaborative system, it can then go into

a database for both general reference and even incorporation in the

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

319

GRI as a sub-system.

879

(c) Likewise related to the LSP, the CDS or Collaborative Design

System, is a programming project that would seek to produce the

actual regulatory and network aware source code that facilitates the

process discussed in the essay “The Industrial Government”. This

system could be coded in the exact same, open source and open

access manner by which the prior two projects are, utilizing the group

mind and the scientific method to help maximize potential.

As a communication tool, this project would not have to be

“complete” to be effective. Even if only a small set of parameters were

utilized that relay the calculation of a theoretical design evaluation, the

educational value alone has great potential. In time, primitive versions

of the CDS could be directly incorporated into the LSP and GRI, since

they are connected in purpose. Such expressions could be

demonstrated at movement conferences.

Chapters and Events

A TZM activist almost always has a relationship to a regional chapter.

As of 2014 there are many chapters across dozens of countries. A

chapter can be a few people or thousands, and those in regions

currently without local chapters are encouraged to start one. It is a

very easy process and the time commitment needed comes down to

the degree of dedication and one's time availability.

880

Chapters are organized by local and international tiers. For

example, there is national chapter coordination for the entire United

States, while each US state has its own chapter (or “sub-chapter”).

Likewise, each city in any given state can also have its own chapter.

This network creates a multi-dimensional information flow and while it

may appear hierarchical, the ethic of the movement is not a top-down

power system. Chapters often hold meetings about their work in each

tier and the ideas talked about are brought up the chain as much and

they are brought down the chain.

As far as events, since the inception of TZM in 2008, certain

periodic events have emerged as staples of the movement, with two

occurring annually. These two are called “Zeitgeist Day” (or “ZDay”)

and the Zeitgeist Media Festival. 2013, for example, marked the fifth

annual ZDay and the third annual Media Festival. ZDay is the

movement's flagship public awareness event, which is intellectually

driven, describing progress in the movement and expanding relevant

research. It is also a public media activism event, always trying to

entice media outlets to cover it in order to further spread awareness of

879 In many ways, this process of design and evaluation is a crude, manual

version of the algorithmic system proposed in the essay The Industrial

Government

880 Those interested in chapters or are new to TZM participation are

encouraged to review the “Chapters Guide” and “Quickstart Guide” on the

global website, www.thezeitgeistmovement.com

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

320

TZM's mission.

In contrast, the Zeitgeist Media Festival is a multi-media arts

event, which works to bypass the intellectual side and use art for the

sake of personal transformation. The arts have an emotional and

experimental capacity to inspire change and generate new ideas and

TZM views the arts as an underpinning of scientific development itself.

This event is also a means to express the creative and exciting

capacity and potential of the human condition and to remind ourselves

that we should also celebrate humanity, as we work to improve it.

Each of these events has the same basic format. There is a

main event and there are sympathetic chapter events. In the case of

ZDay, the “global main event” tends to focus on the most dominant

global issues and projects for the movement each year, usually

featuring well-known speakers and contributors to the movement.

Mirrored sympathetic events, which are regionally targeted, occur the

same day or weekend around the world via the chapters. In 2009, for

example, there were over 400 sympathetic events, along with the

main event in New York City.

881

Likewise, very often chapters conduct

food and resource charity drives for the suffering in their

community.

882

Other events, such a townhalls, which can be monthly or bi-

monthly, are also common. It is up to a given group/chapters to

decide the frequency of these public meetings.

883

Beyond these core

ideas, many other possibilities are out there and it is, again, up to any

chapter to be creative in how it conducts its activism.

Mission Statement

In conclusion, the official mission statement of TZM will be stated in

full.

Founded in 2008, The Zeitgeist Movement is a sustainability advocacy

organization, which conducts community based activism and

awareness actions through a network of global/regional chapters,

project teams, annual events, media and charity work.

The movement's principle focus includes the recognition that

the majority of the social problems that plague the human species at

this time are not the sole result of some institutional corruption,

absolute scarcity, a political policy, a flaw of "human nature" or other

commonly held assumptions of causality. Rather, the movement

recognizes that issues such as poverty, corruption, pollution,

homelessness, war, starvation and the like appear to be "symptoms"

born out of an outdated social structure.

While intermediate reform steps and temporal community

881 Source: ZDayGlobal.org (http://zdayglobal.org/)

882 The inaugural 2011 Media Festival main event in Los Angeles raised enough

food to provide 12,000 meals.

883 Reference: TZM Events (http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/tzm-events-

townhalls)

The Zeitgeist Movement Defined

321

support are of interest to the movement, the defining goal is the

installation of a new socioeconomic model based upon technically

responsible resource management, allocation and design through what

would be considered the scientific method of reasoning problems and

finding optimized solutions.

This “Natural Law/Resource-Based Economy" (NLRBE) is about

taking a direct technical approach to social management as opposed to

a monetary or even political one. It is about updating the workings of

society to the most advanced and proven methods known, leaving

behind the damaging consequences and limiting inhibitions that are

generated by our current system of monetary exchange, profit,

business and other structural and motivational issues.

The movement is loyal to a train of thought, not figures or

institutions. The view held is that through the use of socially targeted

research and tested understandings in science and technology, we are

now able to logically arrive at societal applications that could be

profoundly more effective in meeting the needs of the human

population, increasing public health. There is little reason to assume

war, poverty, most crime and many other monetarily-based scarcity

effects common in our current model cannot be resolved over time.

The range of the movement's activism and awareness campaigns

extend from short to long term, with methods based explicitly on non-

violent methods of communication.

The Zeitgeist Movement has no allegiance to country or

traditional political platforms. It views the world as a single system

and the human species as a single family and recognizes that all

countries must disarm and learn to share resources and ideas if we

expect to survive in the long run. Hence, the solutions arrived at and

promoted are in the interest to help everyone on Earth, not a select

group.

884

Join us:

www.thezeitgeistmovement.com

884 Source: Mission Statement (http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/mission-

statement)